


Merry Christmas indeed

by Clementines



Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series), Karate Kid (Movies)
Genre: Christmas Eve, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:14:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 41,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28218279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clementines/pseuds/Clementines
Summary: Johnny doesn't celebrate Christmas until Daniel comes along.Or the one shot that got out of hand.
Relationships: Daniel LaRusso/Johnny Lawrence
Comments: 58
Kudos: 176





	1. Merry Christmas indeed

Johnny Lawrence doesn’t talk about how much he hates Christmas. He doesn’t complain about the rest of the world’s unadulterated joy, the long queues at the supermarket or the stupid Christmas carols that his car’s radio spit out through December. He doesn’t go on long trades about how it is a religious eyewash turned into a commercial money maker, or how hypocrite it is to try and be kind for a couple of weeks a year as if that could compensate Humanity's usual shitty behavior. He doesn’t yell about the Government wasting money on lights and stupid trees to ornate streets where there are still homeless people left alone to die. He doesn’t mention how glad he is to live in California where there is no snow to remind him of a typical Christmas card. He doesn’t linger on how many of Bobby’s invitations to spend Christmas with him and his little perfect family have ended up in the trash. He doesn’t tell anybody how the only place he goes to on Christmas eve is the cemetery so he can pay some respect to the memory of his dearly loved mother.

He simply ignores Christmas, the whole of it, as much as he can. He’d rather not think about it at all because the topic brings a myriad of horrible memories he has no use for, especially when his life seems to finally be getting somewhere. The year had been rough. He had almost lost Robby to Kreese. Feeling lost and insecure, having been abandoned by his father and the person he considered as one, Robby had fallen into Kreese’s manipulations as Johnny time and time again. He had gone so far as to hurt Daniel. Strike first, strike hard, no mercy. They were able to break through Robby’s barriers in the end though, getting him just in time, the abyss opening wider under his feet. The sequels were deep and many, but that’s something they could deal with. Kreese still had the dojo, but Johnny didn’t care much nowadays. There were others buildings he could turn into dojos, there were more things to life than Cobra Kai. He was worried for the kids though, for Nichols and Hawk, and the whole band of unfortunate teenagers in Kreese’s hands. There was so much he could do, though. He could fight for them and offer guidance but, in the end, they had to make that choice on their own. He’s spent his life blaming other people for his mistakes, but he was ready to take responsibility now. He’s got a job though, he’s teaching karate at Topanga’s and it’s going well.

He’s also got Daniel, which still blows his mind in many ways. All those years wasted on hating the lanky kid to end up kissing his ass, literally. He doesn’t call him boyfriend, because it sounds ridiculous to have one in your fifties. He doesn’t call him partner, because it sounds way too serious. He sure as hell doesn’t call him any of the sappy things Miguel has suggested, such as soulmate or his other half, but he’s got him. He sleeps with him on a regular basis, cares enough to cook for him and drop food by his place whenever he knows Johnny is having a rough day. Daniel is the most he’s got at least since he broke up with Ali in High School, probably the most he’s ever had, and Johnny is set on not ruining it. He lets Daniel dictate the pace and follows his lead, not questioning a thing.

Miguel is walking again, talking his ears off about going back into karate. So, all in all, Johnny’s life is fine when Christmas comes around this year. He’s not complaining. Robby is spending Christmas with Shannon, who was allowed to leave the detox clinic she’s been in for a little trip to the mountain, which means Johnny doesn’t have to fake celebrating Christmas. He declines every invitation that comes his way. He tells Bobby he’s busy on Christmas Eve and they both know it’s a blatant lie, but his best friend lets it slide. He tells Miguel that he’s not spending that night at his house because, even though things are pretty good between Johnny and Carmen, there’s still some tension there and Johnny doesn’t blame her for it. Johnny has a plan perfectly set up for Christmas Eve. He’ll get a pack of Coors, a nice and greasy pizza, Top Gun’s DVD and a night on his couch. Paradise, really.

At least that’s the plan until, on the 18th of December, LaRusso enters his apartment with the spar key Johnny had given him for emergencies, announcing that his mother is going to Jersey for Christmas and his kids will spend Christmas Eve with Amanda. Johnny wants to tell him no, he really does, but Daniel is staring at him with those damn Bambi eyes he has wanted to kick since he was seventeen years old, and he can read in them everything Daniel is not saying. Amanda and Daniel are civilized adults and Johnny has to admit he’s kind of impressed with how good of a job they’ve done with the whole divorce thing. This being said, dividing two lives that were built as one is not an easy task. Daniel is not Johnny, he’s done his share of parenting mistakes through the years, but disappearing isn’t among them. He’s spent every single Christmas Eve his kids have been alive for by their side, cooking them dinner and wrapping gifts. He’ll see them on Christmas day so it’s not that big of a deal, but Johnny can picture Daniel at home, alone and miserable, questioning every life choice he has ever made. Plus, it’s Daniel’s birthday. Contrary to popular belief, Johnny is not a monster, and he doesn’t get off on LaRusso’s suffering. At least not anymore. Johnny sighs, accepting defeat. He sets some ground rules though: this will happen at Johnny’s and no Christmas business, only the both of them enjoying a night together like they often do. Daniel agrees, innocence written all over his angelical face, and Johnny believes him. That’s his first mistake.

* * *

His apartment may not be as fancy at what LaRusso is used to, but it’s not as bad as it used to be either. Now that he’s got a steady income and a son to take care of, Johnny has been putting more effort into the place. He has cleaned, painted and redecorated with Daniel’s help and his stupid sense of taste. Robby’s shit tends to be scattered through the place nowadays, and Daniel’s items of clothing have been conquering some of the space in Johnny’s wardrobe, and he’s fine with it all.

It almost feels like a home instead of a place to crash at night. Dinner on Christmas Eve, an eighties movie on TV and mind blowing sex on the couch. It sounds like a plan to Johnny. He should have known though, after decades, that LaRusso doesn’t accept defeat. He is a deceiving littler fucker, with his doe eyes and crooked smile. His small frame, which makes him almost petite (which guy over forty weighs less than a 100 pounds, for fuck’s sake?), and inoffensive, but nothing further from the truth. LaRusso is a little bitch who doesn’t know how to quit even to save his life. Johnny knows that now, but he still falls into the trap because Daniel is his stupid kryptonite and he’s had over thirty years of selling cars to perfect his bullshitting techniques. He starts small, the smart little shit. At first, his actions go unnoticed.

Daniel dropping by his apartment is a normal occurrence, and him sleeping there when the kids are with Amanda has become a ritual, so Johnny doesn’t really pay attention when he starts leaving some new stuff at his place. At first it’s little things such as candles or pillows for the couch. They all follow a pattern though, red and green, green and red. Five days before Christmas Johnny comes home to paper snowflakes tapped to his windows, but Daniel shrugs it off. He misses the snowy Christmas back in Jersey, so he puts those when December rolls around. Plus, Sam made them at school when she was younger and they hold sentimental value. Nothing more. Johnny accepts the explanation because, what else can he do? Cut baby Sam’s work into tiny pieces of paper and see Daniel’s heart break into the same pieces? Hell no. It’s not a bid deal, anyway.

There are four days left to Christmas when shit starts adding up in Johnny’s foggy brain. He comes home from work, extenuated after three classes in a row, and finds Daniel at the stove, cooking some pasta he made himself, the basil scent invading his nostrils. Daniel throws a warm smile his way, a real one, tot the Hollywood one he puts on at the dealership, and Johnny almost gets distracted enough to not notice. In front of him, on the kitchen’s counter, there’s one of those tiny and scary little trees Daniel loves so much. One of those he gives his customers when they buy cars, one of those Johnny threw into the trash not so far ago. Johnny’s gaze hops from the stupid tree to Daniel, gears working in his head, trying to decipher what it means. However, Daniel is the smart and cunning out of the two, Johnny going for honesty and courage, so he just asks.

“Why did you bring that?”

Daniel gives him a confused look, as if he didn’t know what Johnny was talking about, which he does, and Johnny starts getting suspicious. The blonde points at the tree, looking at it like it’s offending him somehow.

“Oh! You mean the bonsai. Since I’m spending more time over here I thought I’d bring one over so I can work on it sometime. You know it helps me keep calm.”

Johnny knows. He knows everything there is to know about Daniel’s anger issues, those he tries so hard to keep at bay. Daniel has trouble dealing with the dark part of his self, as if not all of Humanity had theirs. Johnny knows Daniel feels threatened by it, scared it might take over, terrified he might turn into someone like Kreese, which is laughable in Johnny’s opinion. Daniel is intelligent, empathetic, charming and good with people. He sometimes uses those qualities to his advantage, but he very rarely goes too far and, when he does, guilt eats away at him almost instantly. Johnny imagines that guilt morphed into Daniel’s old sensei’s face, reenacting the scene where Mufasa appears to Simba to guide him along the right path in Daniel’s head space. Daniel could be a master of manipulation, taking people at their most vulnerable to crush them further, but he chooses not to be and it pains Johnny that he doesn’t see it the way he does. So when Daniel gets into one of his moods, teetering over the edge of evil, he does stuff that brings him closer to his sensei’s legacy, like playing with the tiny fucking trees. “Okay, if you say so.” Because Johnny gets it. He understands the bonsai are Daniel’s baby blanket, what he doesn’t understand is why the one on the counter is trimmed in a way that resembles a Christmas tree, but he lets it slide once more. Not everything has to be a fight with Johnny Lawrence. At least not anymore.

* * *

Bobby is in town and he insists on a little reunion. Johnny tries to get himself out of it, but he soon realizes he can’t win against Bobby. It seems like Johnny has a thing for stubborn people in his life: Bobby, Ali, Daniel, Miguel… the ones he had cared the most about where little shits who never accepted to put up with his bullshit. He feels more at ease when Bobby tells him, on the phone, that Jimmy can’t make it. They haven’t gotten together since their farewell to Tommy and, even though Johnny will never admit it, that episode still haunts him, as do the years he wasted avoiding the only friends he’s truly ever had because he didn’t want them so see what a shitty life he had ended up building for himself. Daniel encourages him to accept Bobby’s offer, but declines to come with him because it would be awkward, and Bobby is not his friend after all. Johnny wonders, not for the first time, if Daniel has any friends at all, refusing to count all those fuckers of the Country Club Daniel has been happy to avoid since his divorce. Johnny feels a familiar guilt building in his stomach, the same he’s been trying to squish for decades, the one that tells him that Daniel doesn’t have High School friends to meet nowadays because of him and the shit he pulled, all because he refused to let go of a girl. But that was a long time ago, Johnny’s brain adds, and Daniel could have still made lots of friends afterwards. Kind, charming, All Valley tournament winner Daniel should have made friends after that. Johnny files away that thought into the “LaRusso” folder of his brain for a later occasion.

He ends up meeting up with Bobby at some bar by the beach on a Tuesday night, four days before Christmas. Robby has a date with Moon, the pseudo hippie girl he swoons over this days, and Daniel is dealing with Samantha's college applications and the beginning of Anthony’s teenage years. They talk comfortably, their beers in their hands and that warmth that has always enveloped them when it’s only the two of them. Bobby has always been his best friend, his voice of reason, the one to try and glue the broken parts, with or without Johnny. He’s also a good man, has raised to the expectations everyone had for him and Johnny is proud of that, and of being able to call him a friend after so many years.

“How is Shannon?”

“She’s doing better. She gets to leave the rehab center for Christmas, even though she’s still got some work to do. You know how this shit works, traumas deeply anchored in her soul and all that shit.”

Bobby snorts and then nods, because of course he knows, he’s a pastor. People come to him to confess those traumas Johnny’s talking about all the time.

“And how is Robby dealing with it?”

Johnny thinks about it, exploring mentally all the way his son’s life has changed lately. Robby had been alone, with no parents to guide him and the kind of shitty friends everyone should be lucky enough to avoid. He had been abandoned and betrayed by every adult he had ever trusted and yet, somehow, he’s pulling through. He’s a kind soul, as Shannon used to be, sweet and endearing. He’s also strong, as Johnny has always tried to be, and he’s finding it in him to forgive all but himself. His fight with Miguel, even though it was an accident, still haunts him. It’s getting better, a scar appearing where a deep wound had once been. The incident with Daniel was different though. It had been a vicious attack. Robby had been manipulated into it, but it still had been a conscious premeditated attack. He knows Daniel blames himself for it as much as Robby does. Johnny only hopes Robby won’t waste thirty perfect years hating himself.

“I think he’s doing surprisingly well. He’s going to school and his grades, for once, are decent. He’s also got a new girlfriend. She seems a bit crazy to me, but she’s all for peace and love and all that Woodstock shit, so I believe she might be good for him.”

Bobby smiles at him, nodding. They both know Robby not making it would be the one thing Johnny could never get over. The small talk is pleasant. They avoid the tough topics or, well, Bobby does for Johnny’s sake. They don’t talk about Tommy’s death, or how alone he truly was by the time he died, despite having a family. They don’t talk about Dutch and his absence through the years. They don’t mention Kreese’s name, and Bobby doesn’t remind him that they told him so. They don’t talk about Daniel either. Johnny has not told his former Cobra Kai friends about LaRusso, but they must have heard because Johnny isn’t hiding him either. He’s talked about it to Robby and Miguel because they’re family and they should know but, other than that, he has not verbalized it. They go on dates and, even though Johnny is not big on public displays of affection, they do hold hands or kiss each other on occasion. Daniel knows how much Bobby actually means to Johnny, and Johnny doesn’t want Daniel to think he’s ashamed of him. If anything he’s grateful, he’s grateful to get LaRusso when he knows, deep down, he doesn’t deserve him in the least, even though he’ll never admit that out loud. Johnny wants to invite Bobby over someday and he wants Daniel here, sharing that moment with them.

“Aren’t you going to ask how I ended up in bed with the guy I’ve swore to hate for the last thirty years?”

Bobby is surprised enough that the beer he was gulping goes through his nose and he needs a few moments to catch his breath. Bobby was there during some of Johnny’s youth, and he knows he has always been a wild thing. He’s not surprised Johnny would swing both ways, but to have a relationship with a man, Daniel LaRusso out of all men, must have come to a shock even to sweet, understanding, and non judgmental Bobby.

“Give a man some warning next time, Lawrence. I had heard some stuff, but I didn’t know if it was real.”

Johnny snorts because they both know that’s bullshit. Honestly, Johnny Lawrence getting fucked by Daniel LaRusso, who would make that up?

“So, what are you exactly?”

Johnny shrugs before taking a sip of his Coors.

“I don’t have a specific name for it, but we don’t just fuck, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“To be honest, I don’t know what I’m asking. On the one hand, I’ve got so many questions and, on the other hand, it’s like I’ve got none. I mean it’s the most shocking piece of news I’ve gotten in my whole life and, at the same time, it really is not.”

Johnny blinks at Bobby, then frowns, waiting for his mate to elaborate.

“I don’t know, man. I never got why you hated the kid so much. Your ex was into him, fine, and he couldn’t keep his mouth shut if his life depended on it, sure, but it still seemed too much. You hated him with a passion, Johnny… You wouldn’t stop, even when I’d ask.”

And Johnny had always stopped when Bobby had asked him until that stupid Halloween night. Since the fight between Robby and Miguel, Johnny has given that night some thought. Robby had never intended his kick to have the consequences it had. Johnny, on the other hand, had been vicious towards Daniel during that night in 1984. He had felt humiliated and had wanted nothing other than punch the life out of him. Sometimes he wonders what would have happened had Daniel’s old sensei not appeared. Would Johnny have stopped in time? He’s afraid of the answer to this day.

“What are you saying? That I was attracted to the punk back then?”

Bobby shrugs in a nonchalant way, but gives Johnny a meaningful look.

“Maybe? I don’t know man, maybe he made you feel things you didn’t know how to deal with so you punched the shit out of them. I mean, the kid was a firecracker, precisely your type. Plus, he was kind of cute.”

Johnny has to laugh at that, ‘cause he still is, a cute firecracker who’s precisely his type.

“I’ve never thought about it like that.”

“Maybe it’s better not to start now”.

It is better. What good would it do? Thinking about how different things could have been, how better his life could have been, would only mean a new weight to carry around for Johnny. He already had enough of those and, despite Back to the Future’s promises, time traveling was still not a thing nowadays.

“Is he good to you?”

Sometimes Johnny forgets Bobby is always in his corner, making sure he doesn’t get hurt too bad if he can help it.

“Yeah, yeah he is. He’s still a pain in the ass, but it’s a good kind of pain in the ass when he’s on your side and not your enemy.”

Bobby groans at the pun and Johnny can’t help but laugh at him. It never gets old to poke around people’s discomfort about grown up men getting it in the ass. The rest of the night goes on smoothly, the laughter of two old bonded souls filling the air.

* * *

Johnny gives up two days before Christmas, when he comes home to a wreath hung on his door. He tries to get mad at Daniel, who doesn’t know the meaning of boundaries, but he shuts up when he sees mistletoe above them. He can get behind that. He can do this Christmas thing if It means so much to Daniel, at least he thinks so until LaRusso starts singing “All I want for Christmas is you” in the middle of the living room and Johnny wants to disappear. Why the hell is a grown man singing to Mariah Carey cute? Goddammit. Afterwards, once Daniel is back to being a normal person, as normal as he can get being who he actually is, they’re sitting on the sofa, enjoying the calm before LaRusso starts talking about gifts, kids, and Johnny can sense a problem coming his way.

“What do you mean you haven’t gotten anything for Robby?”

Johnny rolls his eyes at Daniel, is he getting deaf now? Has his old age finally got to him? Johnny doesn’t think he’ll be able to dye his ears to their original glory the way he does his hair.

“I’ve already told you. I asked and he said he didn’t want anything.”

Daniel is looking at him like Johnny is some kind of Pokemon creature with too many heads.

“He’s lying.”

“What? No, he’s not. Why would he lie? Where do you get that from?”

Now it’s Daniel rolling his eyes at him, the same way Ali used to do when they were teenagers and she would need to explain to him the basics of having a romantic relationship.

“Everybody likes to get something for Christmas, Johnny.”

“No, I don’t, and neither does Robby. We’re not all big capitalists the way you are, Mr Auto King of the Valley.”

“It’s not about capitalism, Johnny, not entirely. It’s about getting a physical proof that someone out there, in this crazy, shitty and scary world we’re all living in, cares enough about you to get you a gift.”

Johnny doesn’t have a comeback for that because, honest to god, he had never thought about it that way.

“Let me get this straight, Johnny. You’re telling me that your son, the one who’s had to deal with a disappearing father and an addict mother for years, and who probably doesn’t remember the last decent Christmas he got to spend with his family, doesn’t care for you to get him a gift this year?”

Under Daniel’s harsh stare and harsher words, Johnny is starting to think this thing over. Daniel sighs and sits next to him on the couch, their sides comfortably touching.

“Look, I’m not saying you have to get him something big, or expensive, or whatever. It’s not about that, but I’m sure he’d be elated if you went out and got him something, proving that things have changed for good and that he never gets to go through Christmas alone while the rest of his friends celebrate it surrounded by the ones they love.”

“Shit, I’m so stupid sometimes.”

“Only when it comes to stuff like human emotions and such. Got any ideas?”

“Christmas is in two days, Daniel. There’s no way I’ll find anything.”

“Oh, come one, don’t give me that bullshit. You can’t give up before entering the tatami.”

Johnny rolls his eyes because there’s the LaRusso he knows best, the stubborn son of a bitch who’ll get to take down someone twice his size or will die trying. He’s a fighter, always has been, and nowadays he’s fighting for Johnny instead of against him, and the blonde feels warm all over. He fucking loves him, okay? Even though he hasn’t said it once aloud, because it scares the shit out of him, in moments like this all he can think about is how much he loves him.

They end up going through three different malls, despair growing by the minute, when Johnny zeroes in on something in a store’s vitrine. It’s a Fleetwood Mac old record, signed by the members of the band, in a pristine condition. LaRusso is right, Robby didn’t get to have many good Christmas, but 2012 had been a good year. Shannon had been sober for months, with a steady job, and Johnny had promised to spend Christmas with them. It was probably the last promise made to Robby he had honored before his presence dwindled in his life to almost none. They had cooked, for real, and put on a big tree with handmade decorations. They didn’t have much, but Johnny had sold a thing or two from his time as a rich teen to get the kid some solid gifts. He had taken Robby for a ride on Christmas eve with his Avanti. Johnny had turned off the radio in favor of some Fleetwood Mac and Robby had fallen in love at first hearing. By the end of the holidays, the kid had learn the album’s lyrics by heart, singing off key, but with much dedication, into January. It’s one of the few good memories Robby may keep from his father as a child and, although it was as painful as it was beautiful, Johnny felt like he needed to honor that. A good chunk of his bank account went into the gift, but he found out he didn’t really care. That gift was so much more than a simple record, it was asking for forgiveness, and promising for better things to come, all in one. The girl at the cashier wraps it with newspaper, sprouting some bullshit about it being more ecological, before finishing off the job with a beautiful flower made of paper.

By the time he walks out of the store, LaRusso is waiting for him at the coffee shop next to it. Johnny feels the emotional and physical exhaustion to his bones. He drops his old body into the seat in front of Daniel’s, grateful for the hot cocoa with whipped cream and colorful sprinkles on top that’s awaiting him on the table.

“You happy with what you found?”

“Yeah, what about you?”

“What about me?”

Johnny shrugs, they’ve been shopping for hours now and Daniel has not gotten a thing.

“Don’t you need to buy gifts?”

Daniel snorts at him, smirking in a way that’s been engraved into Johnny’s bones for years.

“Johnny, I was done with Christmas shopping by the time November rolled around. I’ve got gifts for Samantha, Anthony, my mother, you, Robby, and Amanda. I’ve also come up with something for the LaRusso Auto workers and the kids at the dojo. I even got something for Mark.”

Of course LaRusso would get something for his ex wife’s boyfriend. Of fucking course he would. Then it hits him.

“Wait, did you just say you’ve got a gift for me? I didn’t know we were doing gifts. I’ve already told you LaRusso, I don’t do Christmas.”

Daniel finishes his coffee before fishing some bills out of his wallet and dropping them on the table, generous tip included.

“I know, but I do. You don’t need to get me anything though. It’s fine.”

Johnny looks at him incredulously as the man gets up and starts walking towards the exit. He gulps down the rest of his cocoa, gathers his things and follows.

“How the hell I am supposed to believe that now, asshole? What happened to everybody wanting gifts?” Daniel shrugs and looks at him sideways.

“Johnny, I’m not Robby. It’s not the same. You don’t owe me the last ten Christmas or so. It’s fine if you don’t get me anything.”

“But you got me something! How do I look if I doesn’t get you something?”

Daniel sighs, stopping in the corridor that leads to the mall’s exit, his hands on Johnny’s shoulders.

“I like Christmas, and I like getting people stuff. It may be shallow, but it makes me happy. When I was a kid, I could barely get anyone anything. I couldn’t afford it. I would give handmade stuff to my mother, family and friends, dreaming of the day I could throw them a big party with real gifts. I’ve been able to throw many of those through the years, and I am so grateful for it. It’s who I am, but it doesn’t need to be who you are. You’re having dinner with me on a night you hate and you’d rather ignore, that’s a gift, a gift I like very much.”

Daniel ends his speech by pecking Johnny on the lips before marching towards the car, not a care in the world, a spring in his step. He drops Johnny at his apartment, leaving to get a shower and a change of clothes in order to make it in time to the LaRusso auto group Christmas party. He has offered Johnny to come, multiple times, but he blonde has declined the invitation, feeling out of place.

That night he has dinner on his own before going down to his cellar. Five boxes, containing all of Johnny’s past life, stare at him. One box is dedicated to High School stuff, the period he thought to be the peak of his life, while the rest contains some tokens of Laura to remember her by, the ones Sid allowed him to take once she died. In one of the boxes, the one at the bottom, Johnny finds what he is looking for. There’s a small box with handmade Christmas decorations. Some of them Johnny made in class, when he was little, and other he did with Laura, on one of the rare afternoons she didn’t have to work. They’re from a time when he didn’t have money to buy better decorations, and he finds himself wondering how many more things he’s got in common with Daniel, and what great friends they could have been if he’d given him a chance back in High School. Johnny looks at the decorations with nostalgia, allowing the void he feels since his mother died to swallow him. That’s another thing he shares with Daniel, he realizes, the inability to get over their loved one’s deaths. Johnny remembers the last time he got to put those decorations on a Christmas tree, a couple of months before Laura met Sid and their lives changed forever. Afterwards the hand made ornaments were not good enough, getting discarded in profit of fancy ones professional decorators would put on a giant Christmas tree. When Laura passed away Johnny found them in a box, carefully wrapped. He never found the courage to throw them away, nor the occasion to use them. He knows Daniel is some big shot now, the poor and lanky kid from Reseda long gone, but he believes he’ll be able to appreciate the ornaments Johnny is holding the way they deserve, the way Laura used to.

The next morning, when Daniel drops by to have breakfast, he sees his bonsai tree ornamented with Christmas decorations, a blonde angel at the top instead of a star. None of them talk about it, but Johnny knows everything he needs to know once Daniel hugs him for ten minutes straight, not letting go, and he lets him.

* * *

The morning before Christmas Johnny gets up early to make breakfast for Robby. The kid is still snoring lightly when Johnny starts with the pancakes dough. It’s been eons since he’s cooked. He used to be too rich to bother then, once he wasn’t anymore, he just didn’t give enough of a shit to. He’s using some recipe Daniel gave him, Bananarama chocolate chip pancakes he calls them. He’s let Robby’s gift under the Christmas bonsai and it must look absurd but he could get used to it, his own Christmas traditions. By the time Robby emerges out of his room, washed out jeans and a sky blue jumper two sizes too big for his frame, the pancakes are waiting for him on the kitchen’s counter. He smiles, surprised, and drops himself on the stool ready to dive in. He smiles at the first bite, something warm washing over him.

“These are Mr. LaRusso’s pancakes.”

“Mr. LaRusso? Don’t you think you’re familiar enough to call him by his name?”

Robby blushes, then shrugs before going back to his breakfast. Johnny knows it’s not about familiarity, he’s pretty sure Robby is family to Daniel and, even though they’ve both made their fair share of mistakes, Robby still looks at Daniel with an awe in his eyes he’s sometimes jealous of. It’s about respect, he guesses, about how Daniel probably called his sensei Mr. Miyagi until the very end despite him being a father to him, or maybe because of it.

“This shit is so good.”

“It’s not bad, although calling them Bananarama pancakes should be a crime. He’s such a fucking nerd.”

Robby snorts at his father and looks at him with a familiar mischief in his eyes, because his son can look straight through his bullshit. Robby knows how much Johnny loves Daniel, he can feel it, and he’s been very gracious about the whole thing.

“What are your plans for tonight?”

“Having a normal dinner with Daniel, nothing of that Christmas shit the world enjoys so much.”

Robby looks around the apartment then at Johnny before laughing it out loud.

“Sure dad, no Christmas shit in this house. If it wasn’t for the bonsai turned Christmas tree, the lights on the couch and the Advent wreath on the door outside I’d totally believed you.”

Johnny rolls his eyes at him, a small smirk on his face. What can he say? He tried, he really did, but that’s how things usually turn out between Johnny Lawrence and Daniel Larusso, don’t they? He walks into the fight certain to win then loses, although defeat is proving to be sweet these days.

“I like it, it’s warmer this way.”

“Yeah, it’s growing on me too.”

Robby finishes his pancakes, wiping his mouth with his napkin, when Johnny takes a deep breath and takes the gift from under the bonsai before presenting it to Robby.

“I know you said you didn’t want anything, but I wanted to get you something. I saw it and I thought of you so hmm… I hope you like it, I guess.”

Johnny hasn’t been this nervous since he asked Ali out in 1983. Robby is at loss for words, his gaze shifting between the present and his father’s eyes, incomprehension, surprise and wonder swimming in those blue pools of his. Johnny knows then Daniel was right, of course he wanted something for Christmas, he wanted his father thinking of him. He doesn’t tear the paper like Johnny would have, handling it with delicacy instead, a delicacy that is all Laura. The Fleetwood Mac signed record emerges from the newspaper and Johnny can see the realization setting on Robby’s face, but he still has to check.

“I know it’s an old band nobody cares about nowadays but, when you were like ten you...”

He doesn’t get to finish the sentence, Robby’s hand grabbing his wrist and his words echoing in the room.

“I remember. I remember perfectly. Christmas, 2012. I didn’t think you would though.”

Guilt floods Johnny’s insides and he wonders if someday, once Robby is older and wiser, he’ll understand that Johnny being a shitty father had nothing to do with him, a wonderful child. He hopes he does someday, the same way Johnny ended up understanding why Laura never took his side against Sid. He hasn’t forgiven her for it yet, and he sure as hell doesn’t agree with what she did, but he gets it now. May Robby understand, too, in his own day.

“I know you didn’t get great Christmas growing up. That’s on me, and I’m sorry about it, but I’d like to try and give you some better ones onward.”

Johnny keeps asking Robby to let him in everyday, gaining a few inches every time. He knows that being a part of his kid’s life is a privilege he has to earn and not a given, not after all the shit he’s put him through. He probably could do better, but he’s trying and, for some odd reason he can’t put his finger on, it seems to be enough to the people around him these days. Robby looks at him with tears in his eyes, tears he’s not letting fall, ‘cause he is Johnny’s son after all, before engulfing him in a hug, the record still in his right hand. They don’t talk about it afterwards, there’s no need to. The rest of the morning goes by while they make small talk about Shannon and Robby’s plans, what did Robby get for Moon or what is Daniel going to cook that the evening.

They end up turning on the TV, watching some teenage show where the characters are werewolves, vampires and stuff ‘cause, apparently, being a teenager and asking out the girl you like to prom, having sex for the first time or deciding what to do with the rest of your life isn’t difficult enough on its own. Johnny helps Robby to pack for the trip and offers to take him to the bus station but his son declines, telling him Moon will do it. Of course she will, that’s how young love works. Before he’s out of the door Robby turns around, going into his room and reemerging with two carefully wrapped gifts he deposits under the bonsai tree.

“I almost forgot! Mr. LaRusso gave me mine yesterday, but I left his here so I told him he could open it tonight. It’s the blue one, the red one is for you. I wasn’t sure you’d like getting anything for Christmas but since you appear to be in the mood… Not opening it until tonight though. Promise?”

“Promised”.

Robby is out of the door before Johnny has the time to process what just happened. Robby got him a Christmas gift. His son got him a Christmas gift. Nobody has gotten him anything for Christmas at least in ten yeas, and now he’s getting a gift from Robby, and Daniel, and probably Miguel too. It’s almost too much and he sits at the counter, looking at the bonsai, concentrating on the blonde angel on the top and wondering if this is all her doing.

* * *

Johnny has breakfast listening to Miguel babbling about all of the family members that will come to his house that evening. There’s a lot of names, all Hispanic, and stories, and as much as he’s trying to keep up, Johnny can’t. When he was a kid it was just his mother and him, her parents having kicked her out once they found out she got pregnant before finishing High School, and his father having left as fast as he could the moment he heard the news. Then it was his mother, Sid and him, sitting at a table way too large for only three people. Miguel doesn’t have a family, more like a tribe, and he thinks it may be a Latin thing because LaRusso is the exact same with his Italian family. And, at the moment, looking at Miguel delivering more words per minute than it’s humanly possible, it hits him how much Miguel and young Daniel are alike.

Talkative, social, goofy… There are differences, of course they are. Miguel isn’t as stubborn as Daniel was. He’s got no anger issues and he doesn’t look for fights. He isn’t as comfortable in his skin as Daniel was either. Johnny has to hand it to him, nerd an all, LaRusso already had game back then. You don’t get to date Ali Mils if you don’t. The similarities are striking though, and he ends up thinking about the bullying and Daniel’s Japanese sensei. If some kids put Miguel through the stuff the Cobras put Daniel through, Johnny would probably end up in prison. He thinks he grasps now everything Daniel must have meant for his sensei. He grasps now what a relationship between a sensei and his student should look like, and it’s nothing like the one Kreese had with him.

Rosa ends up dropping by in order to fetch Miguel, there’s much to do and he must help. She invites Johnny once more, but he declines once again, reassuring her he’ll have good company that night. Miguel sneaks in the word “boyfriend” and Johnny ends up throwing him out, Rosa laughing in the background, while his dearest student promise to drop by on Christmas day. Johnny is able to nap for a couple of hours before Daniel knocks, bringing many bags full of groceries with him.

“You do realize it’s just the two of us and not all of your family back in Jersey, right?”

“Ha, ha, you’re the most hilarious person I’ve ever met. Help me, this shit is heavy.”

It’s not, not really, but Johnny can see Daniel favoring the leg with a healthy knee and he doesn’t need to be asked again. Daniel has imagined a menu that combines Japanese, Italian and American food because of course he has. It’s a three course menu plus appetizers and desserts, way too much for two people, but Daniel insists the best part of Christmas food is being able to live off left overs for at least a week. Johnny’s got nothing against that logic. Daniels moves in the kitchen with the same ease he does on the tatami, which is something that cannot be said of Johnny, but the blonde tries to help him as best as he can. He follows orders, chops vegetables, preheat the oven and makes any possible excuse to touch Daniel, because the cooking turns him on and fucking LaRusso knows it.

They make some stuffed Portobello mushrooms, cranberry brie bites, fried mashed potato balls and spring rolls for starters. Johnny finds some KFC fried chicken in one of the bags and stares at it dumbly. It’s not that he’s complaining because he loves KFC, but Daniel doesn’t eat that shit, especially during Christmas.

“Eating KFC for Christmas is actually pretty big in Japan.”

Johnny adds that to the kind of surprising trivia he’ll never really need in his life, shrugs, and goes back to his tasks. They end up preparing roast beef and pasta gnocchi, handmade by Daniel himself, along with minestrone soup. For dessert there is an Italian panettone, Japanese wagashi and an American all apple pie that smells amazing. Daniel has also bought him a pack of Coors, some hot saké, champagne and limoncello. Johnny Lawrence is a lucky son of a bitch, all right? And he knows it. Johnny helps Daniel decorates the table because, since his apartment is now a perfect Christmas postcard, he might as well go all in. They spread a white cloth on the table, put some Easter flowers in a vase, some pine cones in the center and a few candles to get a warm glowing light in the room.

Once everything is settled Daniel excuses himself to go shower, and Johnny resists the urge to follow him, washing his hand instead and changing into a brand new pair of jeans and a black button down he knows Daniel will like. He combs his hair before rearranging it the way he favors with his hands and applies some left over perfume he finds in the bedroom. He looks at his reflection on his phone and snorts, so much for not wanting to celebrate Christmas Eve. He turns on the TV, plops down on the sofa, and waits for Daniel to join him. When he does, Johnny must resist the sudden urge to throw him on his shoulder and get him on the bed like some caveman. He’s wearing black slacks and a pristine white button down. His hair is slightly disheveled, the way Johnny likes, and it’s so much hotter than when Daniel goes for the cow licked look he likes to bring to the dealership. An expensive belt is circling and enhancing his delicate waist, and his sleeves are rolled up his wrists, revealing a beautiful golden watch.

Johnny is hot, and he knows it. He’s known at least since he was fourteen years old, when karate had sculpted his muscles enough for them to show, his Cobra Kai jacket giving him the Badass vibe that girls were crazy about. He knew about his blond hair and his blue eyes, so very Californian, as well as his chiseled jaw and strong nose that granted him a masculine look. He’s aged well, despite all the shit he’s put his body through, and he’s still good looking enough that women half his age do a double take on him at some bar sometimes. Johnny’s all around hotness is not up for debate, it’s an “in your face” kind of thing, and it has “sexy” written all over it. Daniel, on the other hand, is pretty. He’s almost Johnny’s height, but he’s so much smaller, almost delicate. He’s slender enough that you can’t miss his perfect bone structure. His face is a drawing that has come to life, his features sharp but soft. His doe eyes, warm and dark, would put Bambi’s to shame with their long and thick eyelashes. His button up nose is not too small nor too wide, and the imperfection of his crooked white smile brings the final touch to a masterpiece. His fluffy hair and tan skin only add to the mix. He’s lanky and thin but that gives him grace, moving through katas when they do karate like a dancer would through his choreography. Johnny has always known Daniel was pretty, and he still is. Watching him now, Johnny realizes he’s never seen Daniel LaRusso looking his age, always younger than he was to the eyes.

“Well, aren’t you dashing tonight?”

The words make Johnny snap out of it and smile, not smirk, at Daniel.

“You’re not the first to say so, LaRusso.” “Probably, but I count on being the last.”

Daniel’s throws the promise of forever out there so freely and casually that it almost doesn’t register itself in Johnny’s brain. Almost. He takes Daniel’s chair out for him, inviting him to sit down, every bit the well educated boy his mother raised, before pecking his cheek.

“Do you like it?”

Johnny asks as if Daniel hadn’t been the one directing all of the mise en scène the whole afternoon, bringing his best game to the table.

“You take me to the nicest places, Johnny Lawrence.”

They have a great time. They have some eighties music playing in the background, mostly rock ballads, and they can hear the animated noises coming from the Diaz apartment. Amanda face times with the kids sometime around ten o’clock and Johnny can see how happy it makes Daniel, and he’s glad for them, he’s glad they get to be a family whether they’re married or not. Johnny takes a photo of them all dressed up and sends it to the whatssap group he shares with the former Cobras, the one that Miguel had set up for him. He makes sure to tell Daniel he does, and Johnny can see the appreciation through his blush. The food is delicious as everything Daniel cooks (minus the raw fish which Johnny has swore to never eat again). Spending time together is absolutely effortless.

Conversation comes easy and silence is never uncomfortable. Johnny has found out, during the last months, that he and Daniel were never opposites, not really, but complimentary. They’re the Yin and the Yang, similar enough that they get each other and different enough that they balance each other. For once Johnny decides to concentrate on the chance they’ve been given, and that they’re giving each other, instead than on the years they may have wasted. It’s midnight before they know it and Johnny remembers Robby’s gifts, sitting under the Christmas bonsai.

“Robby left us gifts to open at midnight. The blue one is for you, the red one is for me.”

Daniel smiles, grabbing the wrapped gift Johnny passes to him.

“He also said you gave him yours yesterday. What did you get him?” Daniel shrugs.

“Nothing special, a set of knives.”

Johnny almost spits out the saké he had been drinking.

“You got my kid a set of knives?”

“Kitchen knives, Johnny. Get your mind out of the gutter. He came around my house one day when I was cooking sushi and helped me out. He seems to have gotten into cuisine since he dropped karate, I thought I would encourage this new hobby that could very well turn into a career plan.”

Of course there was an ulterior motive, there always was one with Daniel LaRusso.

“You’re such a Slytherin, LaRusso.”

Daniel’s carefree and surprised laugh echoes in the room and it’s one of Johnny’s favorite sounds right next to REO Speedwagon’s songs.

“You’re into Harry Potter now?”

“The kids made me watch it.”

“I thought the snakes where a Cobra Kai thing.”

Johnny shrugs before throwing his napkin at Daniel.

“I’ll let you know they made me take that stupid hat test and I’m a Griffyndor.”

Johnny is so smug about it that Daniel only laughs harder.

“Yeah, hot-headed, reckless and stubborn. Sounds about right.”

“Shut up snake!”

Daniel ends up opening his gift first, finding a book about Japanese food with a Christmas card that says “ _So we can practice together_.”

“God, I hope he’s more subtle about his girlfriend than he is about his crush on you.”

Johnny’s smiling as he says it though, and so is Daniel, deeply relieved by Robby’s ability to forgive his short-comings as Sensei. Johnny opens his, nerves playing around with all the food he’s engulfed down during dinner. It’s a framed photography of father and son taken a couple months ago, during a short camping adventure. They’re both staring straight at the camera, a camera Daniel was holding, with bright smiles on. You can see the resemblance on the picture: blonde heads and blue eyes, lean muscle and confident poses. Johnny knows better though, he knows Robby is the spitting image of Laura turned boy, one of the many reasons it used to be so hard to really look at him. On his card, etched in a neat writing style, he can read the words “ _To many mores to come_ ”, and he smiles. He smiles because he feels in his bones that things are going to be all right. They will never have the relationship they would have had if Johnny had stuck around in the first place, but they will have a different one, as important and worthy if not more.

Then it hits him and he needs to fish for his phone in his jean’s pocket before excusing himself from Daniel’s presence and running through the door so he can dial Robby’s number while he gets some fresh air.

“Hey, everything alright?”

He can hear the worry in Robby’s voice and he hates it. He hates his son thinks he’d only call him if something wasn’t going right, but he gets it, aching to change it.

“Everything is great. I just thought of something you told me the other day about not being able to show mercy.”

Robby rarely talked about the appointments he had to endure with his psychologist twice a month after the school fight. That day though he seemed specially distressed, unable to focus afterwards, wandering aimlessly through their small living room. He had ended up confiding in Johnny that they had talked about mercy, about how he had learned you should show mercy in karate and yet he had been unable to do so. He hadn’t showed mercy to Miguel, and he had punished Daniel as hard as he could. Robby had felt deeply disturbed by this and Johnny had felt guilty. Strike first. Strike hard. No mercy. Fucking bullshit.

“Dad, what are you talking about?”

“I used to think mercy was for the weak, Robby. I’ve believed it for so long… Yet now I realize I was wrong. Mercy is reserved for the brave, Robby, for to show it is one of the hardest thing you can do, especially if it is to someone who hasn’t done the same for you. Robby, you are brave enough to show mercy.”

Johnny can hear the pain in Robby’s voice and, for a fraction of a second, he regrets making the call, but he knows he has to push through.

“I doubt that, Dad.”

“I don’t. You showed me mercy, Robby. I left you when you were at your most vulnerable and yet you’re letting me in again. That’s mercy, right there.” The silence stretches on, and it’s a pregnant one, but it’s not scared nor scary. “Thank you, dad.”

“No, thank you son. Merry Christmas to you and your mother.”

Johnny hangs the phone and lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He takes a few minutes to collect himself, absorbing the cold of the night and the happy sounds that fill the air. There’s music and laughter and Johnny can finally admit to himself that he has never hated Christmas, he only had hated the fact of having no one to spend it with. That’s not the case anymore though, so he smiles, refusing to beat himself up for one more minute, and goes back inside, to someone who loves him.

“Is everything fine?”

“It is, better than fine actually.”

Daniel smiles at him before disappearing into the room while Johnny throws himself down on the sofa with a Coors, feeling more at ease than he has in decades.

“Merry Christmas, John.”

Daniel is handing him a small present wrapped in silver paper with a golden ribbon on it. Johnny almost asks if he can open it tomorrow because he’s an emotional wreck, a happy one, but still a wreck and he’s not sure he can go through more emotions tonight. But Daniel has called him “John”, and he only does that when he’s dead serious about something, so Johnny starts opening his present, tearing away the paper the same manner a kid would do. It’s a small box made of wood and, when Johnny opens it, a silver key is staring at him. He’s unresponsive at first, not understanding what it is, until it hits him like a ton of bricks would. He doesn’t want to assume though, so he looks up at Daniel, who’s watching him expectantly, almost scared.

“Is this what I think it is?”

“That depends. What do you think it is?”

“A key to the old man’s house.”

“A key to my house then.”

“A key to your house then.”

But it’s so much more than that, because nowadays Daniel’s house is his sensei’s house, a private paradise he cherishes more than life itself.

“I don’t want you to think it’s an obligation, okay? It’s not an ultimatum or anything like that, only an invitation.”

“An invitation to what?”

Johnny wonders if he’s being as dumb as he’s feeling at the moment.

“That depends. It can be an invitation to whatever you want. You can come by whenever you want or in a more permanent way.”

“Are you asking me to move in with you?” God, yeah, he’s sounding as dumb as he’s feeling.

“I’d like that, yes, but I don’t want to pressure you into anything. If you don’t want to, then it’s fine. You won’t hurt my feelings, and there won’t be a fight. Take your time, okay? It’s your gift, figure out how you want to use it.”

Then Daniel is kissing his lips, slightly more than a peck but not enough to be anything else than a chaste kiss, and he’s sitting next to him, turning on the TV on some stupid Christmas special that makes him laugh. Johnny is stuck watching the key though, trying to process Daniel’s words. Daniel at war had been a formidable enemy, pushy and unforgiving, but Daniel at peace was the most amazing person Johnny had ever met, understanding and patient. He knew Johnny so well and he was so careful not to scare him away, giving him space and the opportunity to narrow that space at the same time. Nobody had ever gotten him the way Daniel did, and nobody would ever do, and Johnny was fine with that. He doesn’t have an answer though, because it’s too much at once, so he closes the box before sliding it in his jean’s pocket and gets closer to Daniel, leaving butterfly kisses on his neck before snuggling into his side and enjoy Christmas like he used to eons ago.

* * *

They don’t have sex that night, having eaten too much and being too emotionally drained for any funny business. They do sleep tangled together though and Johnny, who’s been awake since dawn, keeps thinking he could get used to this. Waking up to Daniel LaRusso using him as his personal human pillow every day of the week, whether his kids are home or not, whether he has to be at work early or not. He doesn’t dwell on it though because with all of this Christmas shit it’s been almost five days since he and Daniel had sex and that’s way too long. Johnny pops himself up, forearms on each side of Daniel, mouth on his neck.

At first he barely applies any pressure, ghosting his lips all over his lover’s skin, inviting him to slowly come back into the realm of the living. When Daniel starts humming, eyes still closed but a smile etched on his face, Johnny’s starts sucking into his neck, his tongue darting afterwards to soother the smooth skin. Daniel moans slightly, his right hand gripping Johnny’s nape, his fingers losing themselves in his blond hair. It’s all their morning erections need to stand prouder than any flag. Johnny kisses him on the lips once before starting a tantalizing way down, alternating between kissing, sucking and licking. He spends time toying with Daniel’s nipples, flicking them right and left, up and down with his tongue until LaRusso becomes putty into his hands. He starts following the trail of dark hair on Daniel’s chest until he reaches his belly button, a part of the trip that always makes Daniel moan louder. Johnny’s tongue delves into the little cavity doing eights, as a snake would, and he can feel Daniel’s body purring.

After a few minutes of foreplay he finally gets to the place he craves and stops. Daniel is looking at him, eyelids halfway opened, when Johnny takes down his designer briefs with his teeth until his cock springs to life, hitting Johnny on the nose. Johnny would have never thought to use the word “pretty” to describe a penis, but LaRusso always brought him places he didn’t believe existed. It’s about seven inches erect, lean and muscular, slightly veined and with a rounded head perfectly proportioned to the shaft. There’s a musky scent to it that drives Johnny crazy. He starts by licking the underside while he plays with Daniel’s balls with his hands, then he french kisses the head because there’s nothing that Johnny enjoy more than making love to every part of Daniel, including his cock. He licks, and sucks, taking his time the way he knows it drives Daniel crazy. There’s a time and a place for everything, and Christmas morning is the moment for a slow and lazy blowjob. He doesn’t try to deep throat him, swallowing a decent chunk and tending to the rest of his penis with his nifty hands. Daniel enjoys it, grabbing at his hair sweetly, demanding but never overwhelming. Sex had come easy to them, translating what they had learned about each other on the tatami to the bedroom.

It takes around ten minutes for Daniel to tap Johnny’s neck, signaling he’s about to come. Johnny is not going anywhere though and keeps sucking the tip of his cock as he comes, swallowing as Daniel moans harder and mumbles incoherent words. Once it’s over Daniel grabs Johnny by the neck, pulling him up until their mouths can clash in a sensual and languorous kiss that’s all tongue. They both wish they could fuck each other’s brains out but it’s Christmas morning and they have places to be, kids to visit, gifts to give and receive, so Daniel puts his right hand into Johnny’s briefs. He strokes him the way he likes it, using the foreskin to add texture to the hand job, increasing his grip as time goes by, spitting on his hand to make the whole process smoother, until Johnny’s panting into his neck, creaming Daniel’s hand, the briefs and the sheets. They both take a few minutes getting their breaths under control, sharing some kisses and caresses before getting up and showering together, cleaning each other, enjoying the closeness and warmth.

It’s past eleven when there’s a knock on the door. They’re both casually dressed, pair of jeans and checkered flannel shirts, with uncombed hair. Daniel goes to answer the door, welcoming Miguel inside with a smile. He’s got to know the kid lately, regretting his behavior back when he was Samantha’s boyfriend. He’s a good kid, eager and optimistic, and he does Johnny so much good. Miguel barges into the apartment to hug Johnny and Daniel makes some bullshit excuse about getting his car ready to leave them a few minutes to themselves.

Johnny feels so much pride looking at Miguel standing on his own two feet. It’s been a tough year for the kid, but he has made it through and, for once, Johnny has stood right beside him instead of running away in the face of difficulty. He’s proud of that too. He gives the kid some leftovers so he can take home and receives others in exchange. He then goes to his room to retrieve an envelope with a ribbon on top, handing it to Miguel once he arrives in the living room.

“Merry Christmas, Miguel.”

Miguel takes the envelope, the ghost of a smile on his face, before opening it.

“It can’t be.”

“You don’t have to, you really don’t, but you can enroll at Topanga’s dojo anytime you’d like.”

Miguel’s eyes shot to Johnny’s face, awestruck. “My mom would have to sign this form for that to happen.”

“And she did, look at the bottom. We both signed, her as your mother and I as your Sensei if you’ll have me.”

“How did you get her to sign?”

That had been a team effort. Miguel’s shrink had talked to Carmen, convincing her that the decision to go back to karate or not should be Miguel’s and no one else’s. They couldn’t undo what had happened, only deal with it as well as they could, and overprotecting Miguel wasn’t it. He’d grow scared, the shrink had said, and he shouldn’t. The accident didn’t happen on a tatami, but outside of it, with no rules or referees. If Miguel wanted to go back to Karate, an environment where rules were enforced would be the better option. Carmen wasn’t sure about that and to be fair, neither was Johnny, but if it was part of some kind of fucked up therapy, then so be it.

“It’s a long story. You should thank her properly, it takes a lot of courage to do what she did, and also a lot of faith in you.”

Miguel nods excitedly and hugs Johnny tightly before staring at the inscription form he’s holding.

“What if I can’t, sensei? What if I’m not strong enough?”

“Hey, hey, look at me, you’re strong enough. You went through hell and came back, managing to not hate the whole world in the process. That makes you one of the strongest kids I know. If you want to do karate, we do, and if you want to stop at any moment, we do. Karate can also be for fun.”

That’s how it started for Johnny. Getting to know new people, making friends, having fun… then Kreese took that away from him and replaced it with anger, violence and resentment. Daniel never got to the fun part, having to use karate to defend his ass. It could be fun for Miguel though, something to do with other kids, something to burn steam off, and nothing more serious than that. “

Thanks, sensei. I’ll try my best.”

Johnny pats him on the back affectionately and they chat for a few minutes, trading stories about how Christmas Eve went for both of them. In the end Miguel hands Johnny a gift, concert tickets so they can go together, and Johnny doesn’t know what he did to deserve a kid like Miguel but he’s so very happy he found him.

* * *

Daniel invites him to come over his house, but Johnny is reluctant. Daniel’s been divorced for awhile now, and it’s not directly related to Johnny, but it must still be weird for Daniel’s kids. One day you believe you’ve got the perfect American life, then the next day your parents divorce and, in the end, you learn that your father is dating a guy who bullied him when they were teens and who he’s hated for decades. It doesn’t matter how well Daniel and Amanda have handled the whole thing, it may still be worth one or two appointment with a shrink down the road. Daniel insists though, because he’s Daniel and he doesn’t know not to insist.

“Anthony won’t be there, only Sam, and Sam likes you. Anyway, she’s going to be so distracted by her gift that it won’t matter. If Justin Bieber was there, she wouldn’t notice.”

“You’re not seeing Anthony?”

Daniel shrugs, with some sadness in the eyes he’s trying to hide.

“He didn’t want to, and since he’s already going to spend New Year’s Eve with me I didn’t want to force him. I dropped his gift at Amanda’s house a couple of days ago.”

Johnny doesn’t believe Anthony is a bad kid, but he does think he’s too muck like Daniel. He’s fierce and has a temper, and he’s giving his father a hard time.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s fine Johnny. He’s a good kid, he’ll come around eventually. You coming?”

Of course he is. Daniel goes to Amanda’s to pick up Sam and check on Anthony, while Johnny drives directly to Daniel’s place. Johnny doesn’t know what Daniel has gotten Sam, but it must be big, because he’s as excited as he used to be back when he was an electrified teen. Samantha comes out of the car wearing a pair of brand new diamond earrings Johnny spots right away, glowing in the sun. She’s a beautiful girl and, although she looks more like Amanda than Daniel, Johnny can see him in her too.

“Hey Mr. Lawrence!”

They’re still working on the first name thing.

“Hey teenage LaRusso, nice earrings!”

Sam laughs at the nickname shaking her head..

“Thanks, mom got them for me. They’re so sparkling I look like Edward Cullen.”

And Johnny laughs because he gets the joke and Daniel looks at him, astonished, because Johnny Lawrence catching Harry Potter and Twilight references is too much for him. Before Sam goes in Daniel insists in banding her eyes, his old Hachimaki in his hands. He takes her by the hand and enters the property, Johnny following behind. He spots the 1947 Ford Super Deluxe right away, it’s hard not to. That car is a beauty, a true classic. Daniel owns an auto group, he could get his daughter any car, probably one more suited to a teenager, but Johnny gets the message. He’s not giving Sam a car, he’s passing the Miyagi’s legacy onto her, which is the most sacred thing Daniel has, and it doesn’t make Johnny tear up at all, it’s just that something got in his stupid eyes. Daniel positions her right in front of the car, smiles at her proudly, although she can’t see him, and goes to stand behind her, taking off the Hachimaki. Sam opens her eyes, gasps, and covers her mouth with both her hands.

“Merry Christmas, Sam.”

That’s everything Daniel says as he hands her the car’s keys. She looks at him with comically wide eyes before advancing towards the car and touching it. She then turns around and looks at Daniel intensely.

“I can’t accept it.”

“You can and you will.”

“Dad, this car means everything to you! If you want to get me a car, you can get me another one.”

“But that’s the thing Sam, I don’t want to give you a car. I want to give the car that means everything to me.”

Daniel approaches his daughter, taking her hands into his.

“Sam, you’re the most precious thing I ever had. I can still see myself holding you at the maternity, amazed that I played a part in producing such a perfect human being. Time has gone by so fast… You’re all grown up now, and you’ll go to college soon enough, start your own life and forget everything about your good old dad.”

Sam tries to stop him but Daniel shushes her and Johnny smiles, feeling like he’s intruding a very private moment and grateful to be allowed to be a part of it at the same time.

“I’ve made many mistakes with you, but I’ve tried to prepare you as best as I could to face the world, and I think I’ve done a decent job. I know this year has been tough on you, but you’ve confronted your problems head on, the way adults should. Mr. Miyagi gave me that car when I was your age, and now it’s time I give it to you. I know it probably isn’t the fanciest model, or the one a teenage girl dreams of, but it’s the legacy you get. I’m so very proud of you, Samantha, and I can’t wait to see the woman you’re about to become.”

Sam is openly crying at that point, throwing her arms around her father’s neck, whispering to him that it’s the best car she could ever get. Johnny retires inside the house to give them as much intimacy as he can and to wipe some tears, too. Sam is clearly daddy’s girl, and Johnny finds himself wishing that his mother could have gotten a father like Daniel. He may have done mistakes, but he had always been there for Sam, and he would always would be, unconditionally. They come inside after awhile, tears still fresh in Samantha’s azure eyes, and they all drink some tea together, reminiscing about the times when Sam was a little kid, running around excitedly on Christmas day. When it’s time to leave she asks her father for a ride, making Daniel and Johnny laugh loudly.

“You’ve got a license and a car now, so you don’t really need one, Sam.”

She laughs at her own slip, smiling at them, and bid them goodbye before disappearing into the city of angels with her yellow car. There’s silence after that, Johnny’s hand on Daniel’s, trying to comfort the father who’s getting ready to see his oldest fly off the nest.

* * *

They spend a wonderful time at Daniel’s. They spar in the dojo, playfully, old traces of mistrust and dislike long gone. They also go through some katas and do breathing exercises. Johnny was reluctant to do those at first, years of bullshit living rent free in his head, but once he tried them he wouldn’t let them go. They help soothe him in a way nothing else ever had. Sometimes he wishes he could back in time and punch out of teenage Johnny’s head all of his stupid misconceptions of what’s cool and Badass and what’s not, but he can’t, so he settles for doing breathing exercises now. The day comes to an end, the sun going down in their little Japanese oasis, and Johnny realizes proudly that he’s make it through Christmas. Granted, there’s still New Year’s Eve, but that usually involves getting drunk and partying, stuff Johnny has always excelled at. He asks Daniel to come to his, so they can have some leftovers and drift to sleep with the TV on as background noise, but he declines. He’s too exhausted to move, he says, and he’s comfortable here, he says. He’ll change into pajamas (who has those over fifteen, really?) and go to sleep. The week has been a roller coaster of emotions, with Johnny feeling more in 7 days than in years, so he doesn’t push. He kisses Daniel, sweet but long, and goes back to his apartment.

He’s relieved at the silence he finds there. There’s teared down gift paper everywhere and most of the lights are off, everybody resting after some stressful and well lived days. Johnny’s restless though, walking through his living room, rewarming leftovers in the micro he doesn’t eat afterwards, then he sees it. There, on his kitchen’s counter, sits the wooden box Daniel had gifted him. He stares at it hard before opening it and feeling the key around in his hand, trying it like you do a glove, seeing if it fits. There are logistics to figure out. Robby needs a place to live wherever Johnny goes, and so do Daniel’s kids, but LaRusso already knows this so he must have worked out a way. If he leaves, he won’t have Miguel as a neighbor anymore, but that’s just how things are, and Johnny doesn’t need to have him as a neighbor for him to be in his life. He throws a look at his room where his bed awaits for him, with no one inside of it, and he knows. He’s known since he got the gift.

He also knows the rational thing to do would be to go to sleep, wait until morning then call Daniel, but Johnny’s never been rational so he packs some basics, leftovers included, and hops back in his car making his way to Daniel’s, soon to be theirs, in under thirty minutes, which is a feat. Johnny knocks and waits until Daniel, in his pajamas as promised, comes out of the house grumbling and sleepy.

“I gave you a key.”

“Hm?”

“I gave you a key, Johnny. I gave you a key so you could come in whenever you wanted, so why did you get me out of bed to open the door for you? Idiot.”

Daniel may wake up at the crack of dawn most days, but he’s a grumpy bastard if you interrupt his beauty sleep. Johnny smiles at him, sheepishly.

“Sorry, kind of forgot.”

He then proceeds to push past Daniel, entering the house, a couple of bags in his head. Daniel doesn’t react at first, until Johnny leaves the bags on the floor.

“I brought the left overs.”

“Are you moving in?”

Johnny stops taking the leftovers out of his bag and looks at Daniel, insecurity creeping in and leaving as fast when he sees the smile growing on LaRusso’s face.

“I’ve been thinking about how I want to use my gift. I think I want to make it permanent.”

“And you couldn’t wait at least until tomorrow morning?”

Johnny snorts, getting close enough to Daniel so he can sneak his arms around the brunette’s waist. “Where would be the fun in that?” Daniel rolls his eyes at him, his personal way of insulting him, before he kisses the living shit out of him and whispers “Merry Christmas” into his lips.

Merry Christmas indeed.

This story was inspired by the wonderful artist dedlit on tumblr. Just check the link.

[DedlitIllustration](https://dedlit.tumblr.com/post/637883082997989376/for-thefimo-since-her-lawrusso-christmas-head)


	2. Happy New Year indeed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After navigating through Christmas time with Johnny, we explore a bit more of Daniel through New Year's Ever.

Johnny didn’t do Christmas, but he definitely did New Year’s Eve. When he was fourteen years old, Laura had allowed him to go out with his friends after midnight for the first time. Sid, the bastard, had helped him for once.

“Let him grow”, he had said.

“Let’s see if he can turn into a man”, sarcasm dripping off his every word.

Johnny had smashed every December’s 31th of his life since that day. It was easy enough. Dress up, go out, get hammered, fuck a tight hole if one is available and sleep the new year away after eating whatever you can find in your pantry. On New Year’s Eve no one is an alcoholic, but a happy fool, and Johnny could get behind that.

Plus, this year he’s got actual shit to celebrate. He’s not going to drink to forget and wallow in self pity, as he had for the past couple of decades, but because he wants to have a good time. He’s been moving his shit to Daniel’s since Christmas morning, going back to his apartment only to retrieve stuff or catch up with Miguel and his family. He has talked to Robby a couple of times on the phone and his son hasn’t hung up on him. Life’s good, he’s got no complaints. This year was good to him and he’s going to be good to her.

He’s got his tightest pants ready for the occasion, paired up with a casual black shirt and a leather jacket that underlines the bad boy charm he never lost. He’ll leave the house to Daniel and his kids, going to the pub to find some old acquaintances that are only good to party with. He’ll get a nice buzz going, chat up a girl or two he has no intention to take home, then get into bed to mold himself around Daniel’s warm body.

At leas that’s the plan until he gets home on the 27th of December to find Daniel curled on the couch, a pout on his face and a Coors in his hand. It must be bad because Daniel never, ever, drinks Coors.

“Did someone kick your puppy?”

“I don’t have one.”

Daniel doesn’t look at Johnny when he utters the words, instead concentrating on the TV where Miley Cyrus, who looks like twelve, is wearing a stupid wig. Wait, Miley Cyrus?

  
“What the hell are you watching, LaRusso?”

“Hannah Montana. Sam used to love it when she was little. She would force me to watch entire episodes of it with her. It was so bad, Johnny. Such a bad show.”

It’s a horrible thing to say, but this is the kind of stuff that doesn’t make him regret missing most of Robby’s childhood. The nostalgia in Daniel’s eyes doesn’t match his words though, so he sits next to him, putting his legs over his own and tracing soothing circles on one of his ankles with his thumbs.

“Is this about the kids?”

Daniel shrugs, not moving a limb. Johnny sighs and stares ahead. He brings out the big guns.

“Danny, you know I’m bad at this shit. I’m trying here, but I need a bit of help.”

Daniel, having been called LaRusso by Johnny more times than he can remember, always gets a chill down his spine when the blond uses his actual name, but when he uses “ _Danny_ ” he can’t help but melt on the spot. Daniel knows this, and so does Johnny who uses the power carefully, like Spiderman, because a great power comes with a great responsibility. At least that’s what Daniel says. Johnny wouldn’t know because he likes real superheroes like Hulk and not some shitty guy who got bitten by a fucking spider.

“The kids are not coming.”

It takes a handful of seconds for Johnny to realize what Daniel is talking about. It kind of hurts when it hits him.

“For New Year’s Eve?”

Daniel only nods, staring at Johnny as Bambi would once her mother got killed in the damn forest.

“Why the hell not?”

“Sam has got a party, and Anthony doesn’t want to come.”

“Sam’s seventeen, of course she’s got a party, but she can get there after having dinner with her old man, like every teenager has done before her. As for your son, who cares? He doesn’t want to come? Well, tough life, he needs to suck it up.”

“I’m not forcing him to spend New Year’s Eve with me if he hates my guts.”

Johnny frowns and inhales deeply because he has no idea how to handle this conversation. He’s got no right to meddle into Daniel and Amanda’s parenting, and he doesn’t want to fight. A fight is the last thing Daniel needs right now, but he can’t shut up either because this is Daniel and if he can’t talk to Daniel then he can’t talk to anyone.

“Don’t get mad at me for what I’m about to say, okay?”

Give a man a little warning if you don’t want him to throw a tantrum. Daniel nods, a threat lingering in his dark pools.

“We both know I’ll never get a medal for being the best dad of the year, all right? I’m as shitty as they come, but Danny, your son is a brat.”

Daniel’s tan skin gets hotter, his heart itching for a fight, and Johnny almost regrets opening his mouth. Then Daniel sighs, letting go whatever weight he’s been carrying on his shoulders.

“Yeah, kind of.”

Daniel LaRusso agreeing with him on something, refusing his natural impulse to antagonize him. Miguel would call this growth or character development or some other shit. Johnny feels the need to give him a treat.

“He doesn’t hate you though.”

“Yes, he does.”

He doesn’t. Johnny knows what it means to have a kid who hates you, with good reason, and Anthony doesn’t hate Daniel. He may be mad at him, but he doesn’t hate him.

“Believe me, he doesn’t.”

“I’ve never been able to connect with him. It was so easy with Sam, it always felt so natural. Love at first sight.”

Johnny snorts at that, picturing Anthony LaRusso engrossed in some stupid game running on a screen while Daniel tries to get him to take a hike through the mountains or something.

Johnny suspects that Anthony is much more like Daniel than Samantha is. Daniel’s daughter may be the one to have taken on karate, and there certainly are some LaRusso traits there, such as her good heart, but there’s so much that is Amanda in that child. She’s deeply calm, collected, business woman like. Anthony, on the other hand, is like sleeping water. Someday he’s going to wake up and take the world by surprise, a tsunami washing over California.

“Samantha is a daddy’s girl. I mean, look at the boy she fell in love with. There has to be some kind of Oedipus thing going on.”

Daniel’s disgust gets replaced by a frown in a matter of seconds.

“You know about Freud’s Oedipus Complex theory?”

Johnny rolls his eyes at him. Of course that’s what he would stop at. Sometimes he wonders if Daniel and Ali used to spend afternoons on the bed, talking about shit Johnny could never be bothered with.

“I’m not stupid.”

“Never said you were.”

And there’s honesty in Daniel’s words, so Johnny lets it slide.

“Look, your kid will soon be a teenager, and he’s nothing like Sam, so it’s not going to be a walk in the park. You can’t let him do everything he wants all the time. Life doesn’t work like that, you know it doesn’t.”

Daniel sighs and sits up on the sofa.

“I know it doesn’t, I was raised by a single mother in Newark then Reseda.”

“Is that why you spoil your kids rotten?”

“I just wanted them to have what I couldn’t, and Amanda comes from money so it came natural to her.”

Johnny files away the information in the “ _Daniel’s life when I wasn’t around_ ” folder he’s got somewhere on his brain.

“Once my mom married Sid, I got everything I wanted. It wasn’t that good, Daniel. Once the world came crashing down on me, I didn’t know what to do. No one had prepared me for defeat so when it threw me down, I kind of stayed down.”

They both choose to ignore all the things that are wrong with what Johnny is saying. Sam and Anthony have two parents who would die for them on the spot, who take them to class, make them lunch and cuddle them when needed. Johnny didn’t. His point still stands though.

“The best thing about you was the fighter, Danny, and I’m not talking about karate.”

Daniel’s hand find Johnny’s under the blanket and squeezes gently.

“You already let Anthony off the hook on Christmas day, you can’t do it forever. He’s gonna have to face the fact that you’re divorced and dating a man at some point.”

“Will you be there? If I force him to come have dinner, will you be there with me?”

At first Johnny thinks Daniel is only making sure he won’t, but then he looks at him and the pleading of his doe eyes registers in his brain. Daniel wants him there? But why? It’s something Johnny can’t comprehend, something that fills him with dread and, at the same time, warmth.

“Won’t that make things more difficult with Anthony?”

“Yeah, probably, but it will make them less difficult to me.”

Johnny misses the good old days when he could defend himself from Daniel’s charm with a threat, a punch or a snort.

“Yeah, I’ll be there if you want me to.”

And there goes his New Year’s Eve plans, because that’s what Daniel LaRusso has done since he met him over thirty-five years ago: fuck with his plans.

Daniel sighs as he stands in front of the dealership, checking his reflection on the glass door. Sometimes he hates what he’s become. Once upon a time, Daniel didn’t shy away from confrontations. He used to stand his ground against bigger, better and more powerful people than him, and now here he was, afraid of his own son. He walks directly towards Amanda’s office and knocks on the door, entering with as much resolution as he can gather once she invites him in.

“Sam and Anthony are coming on New Year’s Eve. They will have dinner with Johnny and I, then I will drop Sam at the party she wants to go to, and Anthony at yours if it makes him feel better. I don’t care what they want, Amanda. It’s not up for negotiation.”

Amanda drops the pen she’s holding and scans him with her penetrating blue eyes before smiling.

“I think that’s great. Go get them tiger.”

“Really? That’s it?”

Amanda shrugs at him, sighing.

“Honestly, I had dinner plans that didn’t include Anthony at all. As for Sam, she’ll go to college soon enough, she can stand us for a little bit longer before becoming an adult and realize how good she had it with us.”

“You don’t usually tell them no.”

She doesn’t. Daniel has always been the bad cop in their co-parenting, distributing punishments and lessons when needed. Amanda favored other approaches, more indirect ones.

“I know, I didn’t want to be like my dad. I may have overdone it. Anthony is kind of a brat.”

Daniel smiles, shaking his head, thinking he’s been dating the same soul in different bodies since he met Ali Mills in High School.

  
“Your father has always been kind of a dick.”

  
“Yeah, I can’t wait for him to find out you’re dating a guy.”

“He probably does know by now.”

“He hasn’t come to me to gloat about it. There’s no way he knows yet.”

Amanda’s father had once made her choose between her family and Daniel LaRusso, a salesman from Reseda. She hadn’t hesitated. She had packed her stuff, ripped the credit cards her father had been paying for in front of his face and never looked back.

Her father had tried to rekindle their bond once Samantha was born, but their relationship had never healed back to what it had been once. Even though Daniel and Amanda had built a little auto empire, nothing had never been enough to satisfy her old man. At the end of the day, Daniel would never be more than a salesman to him; a glorified salesman for sure, but one nonetheless.

Seeing him never failed to send Daniel back to 1984. He could see himself standing at the entry of Ali’s mansion, naively believing her parents would be as open as she was, not caring about his background. He could see Ali’s parents look at him as he talked animatedly, disgust written all over their faces. He could feel their stare on him, dissecting his thrift store’s clothes, taking him apart like a couple of lions would a deer.

He had known there, on their very first date, that their relationship was doomed to fail, even though he hadn’t found the courage to admit it. He wonders sometimes about the impact of that night in his life. He wonders sometimes if he would have worked so hard to get to the top had Ali’s parents not looked at him like he was a nuisance they couldn’t wait to get rid of.

Daniel was not tall enough, not strong enough, not blond enough, and not rich enough. He would never be enough. Maybe, in a dimension where he was never confronted with Ali’s parents, Daniel had settled up for a simpler life, one he liked better.

He had swore to himself to never date into money again, but by the time he discovered Amanda’s background he was in too deep. She had flipped his script though. She had sided with him. She had believed in him. She had chosen him, and he had felt the immediate obligation to reciprocate, getting her the best life he could. He loved Ali, and he loves Amanda, but sometimes he wishes he had never met them.

“He was probably right, you know? You shouldn’t have married me.”

Upon hearing those words, Amanda gets up from her desk and stops in front of Daniel, her hands on his shoulders.

  
“Marrying you is one of the best things I’ve ever done. I was in love with you for over twenty years, and I will love you until the day I die. There’s not a person in this world I would rather have kids with. My father is a snob, and that’s his problem, not yours. Got it?”

Daniel smiles at the pep talk, remembering how lucky he had been to get Amanda who had always been way out of his league. He hugs her tightly, words not being suited for the occasion.

Daniel comes home late, cranky and exhausted. A couple of clients have driven him crazy all day long to leave empty handed, whispering some bullshit about not finding whatever magical car they were looking for. He had fought with Anthony over the phone, his son hanging up on him while yelling _“I hate you”_ at the top of his lungs, and he hadn’t had time to eat anything since the night before.

So when he finally enters his own little private Eden, he can only think of eating the sushi he has picked up on his way home, getting into a hot bath, and sleeping at least ten hours.

“Hey, tough day? You look tired.”

“You have no idea.”

He drops his stuff on the floor as soon as he’s the door, something uncharacteristic for his tidy, somewhat obsessive, personality. He then goes to peck Johnny on thee lips before going into their room, ditching his stupidly expensive suit for some comfy clothes, and plopping himself on a chair in front of the living-room’s table where his sushi lies.

“Do you want some?”

Johnny curls his mouth in disgust, unable to appreciate the delicatessen Daniel is offering.

“There no way in hell I’m eating raw fish. I’m not a savage.”

Daniel snorts at the comment. His caveman of a boyfriend thinking himself more civilized than a gastronomic culture with thousands of years of tradition was deeply insulting and terribly funny at the same time.

“What happened today?”

“I’d rather not talk about it. It’s not worth it.”

Daniel would rather not talk at all.

“If you say so… Listen, Bobby called. He wants to meet up with Jimmy and I on the 29th. He invited you too.”

Daniel leaves the niggiri that was almost in his mouth on his plate, grimacing at it. Bobby has reached to him a handful of times over the years, Daniel declining politely every time. He’s usually more articulate about it, but he’s tired and it’s Johnny he’s talking to. He feels like he can manage brutal honesty with Johnny.

“I don’t know Johnny, I’d rather not.”

“You sucked my dick yesterday.”

“Pardon me?”

“You heard me. You sucked my dick yesterday, then you put yours in my ass. That’s how far we’ve come since 1984, Daniel, so why the hell is it so horrible for you to spend some time with my friends?”

  
Daniel looks at him, flabbergasted.

  
“It’s not...”

“I know they were shitty to you, but I was the worst and you forgave me. Get over it man, it was decades ago. Bobby is a pastor, for god’s sake!”

“What would I talk to them about, Johnny? Should I reminisce about that time you all threw me down a cliff? Or maybe should I refer to the Halloween beating? Even better, maybe I could tackle how my knee never got back to full capacity because of Bobby, the pastor.”

“It wasn’t a cliff, you drama queen, and you’re being a fucking dick. I get it, we were assholes to you in High School, but those guys are my friends. They are the only people who have stood by me through thick and thin. Excuse me for wanting to share with them one of the best things that’s happened to me in the past few years, maybe ever.”

“Did you just refer to me as one of the best things to ever happen to you? Man, 1984’s Johnny Lawrence would have to go the ER if he heard this conversation.”

Johnny rolls his eyes at Daniel, the most insufferable person he has ever met.

“Daniel, please.”

  
“Why are you insisting so much? Normally you ask, I tell you no, then we go on with our lives. What’s the real deal, Lawrence? And don’t give some romantic bullshit, give me the truth.”

Johnny sighs, joining his hands and looking at the ceiling.

“The last time we gathered was to take Tommy out of a hospital, give him a last hooray before he went. He died that night, while we camped. It’s hard, all right? I don’t want to go alone.”

Daniel marvels at how much things do change when honesty is your best policy. He sits next to Johnny, puts his head in the crook of his neck and his arms around him, as he used to do with Sam after Miguel’s accident. He doesn’t say anything when he feels his neck getting wetter, he only hugs Johnny tighter.

When life gets too intense for Daniel, which has been almost a daily occurrence for the past couple of years, he likes to go through his katas. They bring him calm, taking him back to the safest place in his mind, back at Miyagi’s side. Katas are not about fighting, they are about focus, about bringing the body and the mind fully together, and Daniel likes that because, contrary to popular belief, Daniel doesn’t like fighting. He hadn’t truly grasped Miyagi’s words until the tournament in 1985, but he did then. Karate is only for defense, meaning fighting is not something you enjoy doing, but something you must know how to do in case there’s no other choice left.

He enjoys doing katas in his garden, in the first hours of the afternoon, with silence surrounding him. It’s his self-care routine. He’s so engrossed in it that he doesn’t feel another presence in the garden until Robby speaks up.

“Hey Mr. L., sorry to interrupt.”

Daniel puts and end to his exercises with a deep breath before opening his eyes, offering a smile to Robby.

“You have permission to interrupt me whenever you need it.”

Robby is looking at him with longing in his eyes and Daniel understands immediately.

“Do you miss it?”

Robby puts on a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes and shrugs.

“Some of it. I don’t miss the fighting, but I do miss the katas. They used to take away the anger, or at least lessen it. What I learned in Cobra Kai made me angrier. It’s funny how the same sport can have such a different impact.”

  
“I’m not sure it’s the same sport, Robby.”

“Probably, but I feel like I can’t trust karate anymore.”

Daniel nods, a bit of sadness in his deep brown eyes. He used to feel that way too back in the day. Mr. Miyagi had taken him out of that dark place, but neither Johnny nor Daniel could pretend to be half to Robby of what the old man had been to Daniel. What a shame.

“What brings you here?”

“I came back this morning and I thought I’d let dad know. I’ve heard he lives here now. Who would have thought, huh?”

  
There’s no anger in Robby’s words, only a nice teasing, and Daniel thinks it’s a wonder that this kid’s goodness has survived everything they’ve thrown his way. He is extremely grateful for it.

“How’s your mom?”

“She’s doing better. She still has a long way to go, and she’s conscious of it, but I haven’t seen this well in years.”

“That’s great, I’m glad she’s sticking to it. Recoveries are tough.”

Robby nods while he hides his hands in his pockets. He’s always been a shy kid when it comes to what really matters, exactly like his father.

“She wanted to thank you for paying for the whole thing. We could never have afford that facility.”

Daniel dismisses it with a gesture of his hand. He thinks it’s pretty pathetic that the only thing he can gets to offer nowadays is money. He can still remember a time where he didn’t have a dime, and yet he gave so much away to anyone he found.

“The only thing that matters is that she’s doing better. Your father had classes this afternoon, but we could go in and have some tea if you’d like.”

Daniel wants to get near Robby again, but he doesn’t want to scare him away.

  
“Sure, I’d like that.”

Daniel makes him some matcha tea just the way Robby likes it, or at least used to, and they sit on the floor, sipping the beverage in silence. Daniel can feel something weighing down on Robby, but he waits patiently for the kid to come out with it.

“How long were you a Cobra, Mr. L.?”

“Not for long, some months at most, but it felt endless.”

Robby nods, snorting as he can recognize himself in Daniel’s words.

“I can’t talk about with Dad. It’s not the same, you know? He was always a Cobra.”

Daniel nods, understanding passing between them.

“They made me angry all the time. I was always pissed, always on alert, always looking out for enemies.”

“Did it go away?”

Daniel sighs, then stares at the wall before looking at Robby, gathering as much courage and honesty as he can.

  
“I think it was always there, lurking in my own shadows. It’s like they took the darkest parts of myself and amplify them until there was nothing else left. It’s still there, but it’s doesn’t take as much space as it used to.”

“But now you know it’s there, and you can’t unknow it.”

“You can’t, but that’s not entirely bad though. It’s more difficult to lose control of it when you’re conscious it’s there.”

“I hated every moment of it, and yet I loved it. They made me feel worth it. They made me feel powerful, like I could take on the world. It was never my responsibility, it was always someone else’s. They made it easy.”

“Sounds familiar.”

“I thought I wasn’t like my dad, that I was above him, but I fell in the exact same trap he did.”

“Anybody could fall in that trap, Robby. They prey on people at their weakest. It’s easy to listen to them when you feel like they’re the only option.”

“I still can’t believe I helped them to beat the shit out of you. You shouldn’t be talking to me, Mr. L. I put you in the hospital.”

“I’ve made that mistake twice already, I’m not doing it again. You weren’t the attacker, Robby, not the real one. You were manipulated by them to be the weapon. If I hadn’t failed you, they wouldn’t have gotten through you.”

“At the end of the day you’re not my father, Mr. L. I kind of forgot about it, being mad at you for stuff you didn’t really owe me.”

“I was your sensei, and I wasn’t a good one. He’s trying, you know, really trying.”

  
“I do, but I’ve seen this many times before. He has often treated me like you would a New Year’s resolution. On the first of January you’re really motivated, throwing everything in, but then the weeks start to go by and your motivation dwindles. Life gets in the way and, by the time you realize it, you’ve given it up before the first half of the year rolls around. I just don’t want to get my hopes up. I’m not sure I can take anymore disappointments right now.”

Daniel nods at him, knowing there are things only time can fix.

“He said I could keep his apartment if I wanted to, that he’d pay the rent for me.”

“You can, but you can also stay here. You can even do both, live over there and come here whenever you want.”

“I don’t want to impose.”

Daniel gets up, signaling Robby to follow. He takes him to a room he had never visited despite being in the dojo many times. The walls are painted in a soft hue of blue and green, and the room is sparsely decorated, with a futon in the middle and a bureau.

“It’s yours if you want it. I made it specially for you. And this time I mean it, no kicking you out whenever I feel you fucked up. It’s yours.”

It’s hard for Robby to not get his hopes up when Daniel’s emotions taint every word he’s saying.

“Here, look at this.”

Daniel hands Robby a white vase with Japanese blue motives over it. Lines of gold roam over the surface, holding the object together.

“Very pretty, but why are you giving me ceramic, Mr. L.?”

Daniel laughs and follows the golden lines of the object with his fingers.

“I brought it from Okinawa. This is a technique called _Kintsugi_. Ceramic used to be very valuable, and most people couldn’t afford to simply throwing it away when it broke, so they repaired it. They mended the broken areas with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold. They didn’t treat the breakage as something to disguise, but as a part of the object’s history, a part that contributed to its beauty.”

“Something like tattoos, huh?”

Robby keeps his sentence as short as possible, afraid the emotion that’s rising within him will spill into his voice if he uses it for a longer time.

“Something like that. We all have scars, Robby. We all got broken at some point. You won’t be able to go back to the person you once were, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be an amazing one.”

“Scars and everything?”

  
“Because of the scars. You came back, Robby. They broke you, but you glued yourself back together. That’s worth putting some gold over, don’t you think?”

Robby doesn’t think, he just throws his arms around Daniel’s neck and hugs the shit out of him.

Daniel is starting to loose circulation in his hand with how tightly Johnny is taking it, and he wonders who out of the two of them is more nervous as they advance towards the pub’s door.

The former Cobras are sitting at a table in the back, as they used to do in class, and Daniel kind of feels like he’s fifteen all over again. Time has taken Bobby’s blonde mane away, but the cerulean of his eyes is engraved into Daniel’s memory. Tommy hasn’t changed that much, even though Daniel barely remembers him, having being the most silent of the group back in the day.

There is a third head though, one of a man whose face Daniel can’t see because he’s sitting with his back to the pub’s entry, but Daniel knows. He knows instantly. He can recognize the aggressive bleach and the body language.

He catches Bobby’s eyes through the room, reading a variety of emotions in them. There’s surprise first, and Daniel knows right away that Johnny forgot to tell his friends that Daniel had accepted the invitation for once, then worry, then a silent plea for Daniel to turn back and go home.

Daniel tries to do so, understanding passing between them, but it’s already too late. Johnny, who hasn’t caught up with the presence of a third blonde head at the table or Bobby’s vibes, is already marching forward, dragging Daniel with him by the hand.

In a matter of seconds Johnny Lawrence is engulfed by Dutch’s arms, his own limping at his sides, unable to grasp what is happening. Daniel tries to run, once again, but Dutch’s eyes are on his and he can see the recognition in them. Daniel hasn’t changed that much through the decades, especially when he’s wearing a pair of jeans and a hoodie, his hair slightly disheveled. Daniel is pretty sure he hasn’t seen his hand into Johnny’s though.

“Danielle?”  
  


The stupid nickname turns his blood cold in an instant. His first reaction is to kick Dutch in the face, but he puts himself together, chin up.

“It’s Daniel, Dutch.”

Bobby drops his head into his hands while Jimmy stares at his beer with an almost supernatural interest. Johnny just stands there, too shocked to react in any way. Dutch laughs, and it’s as obnoxious as in Daniel’s memories.

“Shit, LaRusso, you’re as susceptible as ever. Chill man, it’s just a joke.”

He then turns to Johnny, staring at him with something akin to defiance in his eyes.

“What are you doing with this kid, Johnny boy? Last time I checked you hated his guts.”

Yeah, and last time I checked Dutch wants behind bars, where he belonged, thinks Daniel. He then turns to Johnny, awaiting his answer, as do Bobby and Jimmy.

“Things change man, we’re kinda friends now. My best student is dating his daughter and everything.”

Daniel wasn’t sure about the answer he had wanted to hear from Johnny’s lips, but it definitely hadn’t been that one. He can feel the disappointment coiling in his stomach, and see the disapproval in Bobby’s eyes and the slight pity in Jimmy’s.

Leave it to Daniel to not be good enough for a man who, not that long ago, was laying on the floor of his shitty apartment surrounded by empty Coors bottles. Fuck this, he doesn’t need any of it.

“Look, I didn’t know you were coming, and obviously you didn’t know I was coming either.”

Daniel utters those last words looking at Johnny, the reproach evident in his coke colored eyes.

“I’d better go and let you catch up.”

“Oh, come on, you don’t need to do that, Danielle. If Johnny boy is good with you, then so I am! Come take a seat.”

Daniel doesn’t want to take a sit, and he doubts he can hear Dutch calling him that one more time without punching him, but he also doesn’t want to cause a scene. He’s tired, exhausted even, so he sits between Bobby and Jimmy, ignoring the pain and the shame mixing in Johnny’s blue orbs.

“So, is your daughter a hot babe or what? I bet Johnny’s disciple knows how to chose them.”

The only thing stopping Daniel from kicking the shit out of the idiot is Bobby’s hand on his thigh, appeasing. Karate is for defense only. Sure, but punches are not, whispers a voice inside his head.

“Dutch, shut the fuck up.”

Jimmy’s voice cuts through the air, and Daniel wishes it was Johnny’s but the blond is staying silent and there’s no way he’s sleeping anywhere near Daniel tonight.

After Jimmy’s warning Dutch focuses on Johnny, telling him about his time in jail, catching up. The night goes by almost peacefully, with only a few jabs directed at Daniel to make fun of his commercials, of how skinny he still is or of his hair. He smiles tightly, waiting for Johnny to say or do anything, but nothing happens and he lets it slide.

He would have never done that in High School, but he’s doesn’t have it in him anymore. Dutch is Johnny’s problem, not his, and if the blond isn’t about to do anything about it, neither is Daniel.

“So, I heard Ali is separated nowadays. Gonna do anything about it Johnny boy?”

Daniel wants to roll his eyes at the stupidity of it all, he really does. Johnny only laughs in an uncomfortable manner.

“Come on man, it’s been decades. I’m over her.”

Daniel wants to laugh at the blatant lie Johnny delivers flawlessly, as if he hadn’t been pinning for her still a year prior.

“I’m not saying you need to marry her, but a good fuck for old time’s sake could be fun!”

  
“Hey, watch your mouth about Ali.”

Danny can feel Bobby facepalming next to him. The worst part of it all is that Daniel knows Johnny is not realizing what he’s doing. He knows that the fact he’s defending Ali while he has got zero problems with throwing Daniel under the bus all night long doesn’t mean he’d pick her over him in a heartbeat, but it sill hurts.

“Calm down man, she’s just a chick. Speaking of Ali and sex, did you get that far before she dumped your sorry ass or were you just a sad rebound, LaRusso?”

Daniel snorts, because Dutch’s words shouldn’t get to him. Daniel has been lucky enough to share his life with amazing women, in every sense of the term, women who wouldn’t give a guy like Dutch a minute of their time.

“Wouldn’t you want to know.”

“Well, if you’re ever on a dry spell you could try jail. A pretty thing like you would be a hit.”

Daniel stares at Dutch right into his eyes and realizes he knows. He’s known all along. He can see the veins in Johnny’s neck getting swollen and sense the kick Bobby gives Dutch under the table.

“Got any problem with me you want to settle, Dutch?”

"Why? I just stated the truth. You've always been a pretty boy LaRusso, and time has been kind to you."

“I don’t know, Dutch, it seems you were talking from experience. Did something happen in the showers? Did you like it?”

Daniel is treading on thin ice, and he knows it. Dutch smiles at him, a predatory smile, as he puts his elbows on the table.

“Not as much as you would, I’m sure. By the way, I almost forgot. An old friend of mine told me to give his regards if I ever happened to bump into you. Does the name Terry Silver ring a bell?”  
  


Daniel can feel his brain shutting down and his body being glued to the spot. It’s like being eight all over again, listening to his parents talking in their room a winter day, not having heard him come back from school.

His mother is crying as she asks his father how much he has left. Daniel remains by the door, his school bag hanging in the air, frozen halfway in his journey towards the floor, his mouth opened. He stays for minutes, barely breathing, until he runs to his room as fast as he can. Sometimes Daniel thinks a part of him stayed there, frozen forever in some old building of the East Coast.

Over four decades later, he does exactly the same. He gets up as fast as his legs can manage and runs through the door, never looking back. He doesn’t catch the sadistic satisfaction on Dutch’s face. He doesn’t catch the confusion passing between Bobby and Jimmy’s eyes. He doesn’t catch the deep frown etched into Johnny’s features either. He also misses the moment Johnny finally gets up, grabbing Dutch by his shirt before throwing him to the wall on his left.

“I don’t know who the fuck that guy is, but listen carefully Dutch. You ever come near Daniel again and make him feel like you’ve done tonight, and I’ll kill you.”

  
Johnny relaxes his grip and Dutch cracks his neck side to side, smiling at Johnny.

“Do you want to test jail’s showers too, Johnny boy? Is that it?”

Johnny punches him the way Kreese taught him to. He makes sure to feel and hear Dutch’s nose breaking before leaving.

He had been the one to drive Daniel to the pub, so the brunette must not be too far. At least that’s what Johnny thinks until the minutes start to tick by and there’s no Daniel. He’s nowhere to be seen.

“Hey! Johnny, where’s Daniel?”

  
“Why the hell didn’t you tell me he was coming? I would have never brought Daniel. Hell, I probably wouldn’t have come myself!”

Johnny knows his anger is misdirected, he knows Bobby is not at fault here. Johnny is, and he can’t stand it.

“Daniel never comes, Johnny, and you didn’t say anything. Plus, Dutch sprung it on me a few hours ago.”

“Fucking asshole.”

“Yeah, that makes two of us, don’t you think?”

Bobby is looking at Johnny as he says those words, and there’s not an ounce of regret on his face.

“Fuck you.”

“No, fuck you. First you tell him you’re friends, then you let him walk all over him all night long. What the fuck is wrong with you, man?”

Johnny sighs, dropping his head onto Bobby’s shoulder. His best friend exhales and hugs him, because that’s what he does when Johnny fucks up. He tells him straight to his face then hugs him.

“Who the fuck is Terry Silver? I’ve never seen Daniel react like that.”

  
“I don’t know, man. I’ve never heard the name.”

  
“Well, you should look into it because something smells rotten in the valley.”

Johnny nods into Bobby’s shoulder before taking his phone out and cursing. No sign of Daniel.

“Where the fuck is he? It’s cold.”

“Maybe he’s home.”

  
“I was the one driving.”

“He may have called a cab, Johnny. Why don’t you go home and check if he’s there? He may be tucked into bed for all we know.”

They both know there’s a fat chance of that being actually true, but what else is there to do? Daniel is an adult, if he wants to disappear into the night for a few hours, nobody can stop him. So Johnny does just what Bobby says and goes home. There’s no Daniel. There’s Robby though, sitting on the sofa, watching Netflix.

“Hey dad, what’s up?”

  
“Has Daniel come by tonight?”

It’s the tone in Johnny’s voice that makes Robby look up, worry etched into his features.

“No, I was with him this afternoon. He showed me a room, told me it was mine if I wanted it. He promised not throw me out if I did something wrong this time.”

Robby says the last words with mirth, and Johnny feels exactly like the gigantic asshole he actually is.

“Yeah, I think I may be the one he’ll throw out this time around.

“Already? It’s been, like what, five days? That’s fast, even for you.”

“Gee Robby, thanks.”

“What have you done?”

  
“The short version? I was a pussy.”

  
“That’s a sexist thing to say.”

  
“You’re right, anyone with a pussy has more balls than I had tonight.”

Robby snorts and pats the space next to him on the sofa, inviting his dad in.

“Have you ever heard of Terry Silver?”

The sole mention of the name is enough to send a chill down Robby’s spine.

“Yeah, I wish I hadn’t though.”

Daniel doesn’t come home that night. Johnny feels like he can’t breathe until Amanda gives him a phone call, telling him Daniel did go to work. It’s past nine the next night when Daniel finally walks through the door, grocery bags in his hands. He barely looks at Johnny, not bothering to acknowledge his presence. He drops the bags on the kitchen counter, arrange every item he shopped for, and leaves for their room to change. Johnny follows and drops against the door, sliding down until his ass hits the floor and he can hug his knees.

“I know sorry isn’t gonna cut it, but it’s the only thing I’ve got, so I’m sorry.”

Daniel, clad only in boxers, carefully folds his suit.

“You’re right, it’s not gonna cut it.”

“What do you want me to say, Daniel?”

“There’s nothing to say.”

  
“Oh, so that’s it? We just walk away from this?”

“I never said that.”

Johnny sighs and bump his head against the door, closing his eyes.

“I was an idiot.”

“No, you’re an idiot any day of the year, yesterday was way worse. You were the one who pushed me to go there, what for Johnny? So you could ignore me all night?”

  
“I didn’t know Dutch was going to be there.”

“So what? SO WHAT?”

Daniel is full on yelling now and, for a moment, Johnny can picture a fifteen year old Daniel yelling _“This school sucks”_ on a football field.

“I could understand you not telling him, Johnny. I wouldn’t have told him either, but to stand by while he insulted me all night long? Fuck off man.”

“I did punch him once you left. Does that make it at least a bit better?”

“Maybe.”

“I asked Robby about Terry Silver.”

Daniel puts his pajamas on and sits on the bed, staring ahead at the wall.

“Then you know everything you need to know.”

“What happened in 1985, Daniel?”

“Does it matter?”

“You’re scared of that guy. I’ve never seen you scared.”

“My ass you haven’t. I was terrified of you and your friends.”

  
“Not enough to run away.”

“I didn’t run away from Silver either. Mr. Miyagi wouldn’t let me lose to fear.”

“Daniel, what happened? Please?”

Daniel sighs, lacing his hands together as if he was about to pray.

“That year they reinforced a new rule, the winner of the precedent tournament went straight to the finale without having to dispute any other match. It was too good to pass, but Mr. Miyagi wouldn’t train me. He said karate was not for competition.”

Johnny snorts at that, he would never understand the old man.

“In the end I realized he was right, and dropped the matter, but then I started to get bullied, again. Mike Barnes kept hunting me, putting a friend of mine and I in danger. He wanted me to compete, said he wouldn’t let me off the hook otherwise.”

“Sounds like an ass.”

“Yeah, that’s an understatement. Then Terry Silver appears from nowhere and saves my sorry ass. He offers protection, then to train me, and Barnes won’t leave me alone so I accept. Worst mistake of my life.”

“What about Kreese?”

“Silver made me believe Kreese was dead, but he wasn’t. Anyway, I started training under Silver and he turned me into a person I didn’t know I could be. I was angry all the time, and violent, seeing enemies everywhere. I knew there was something wrong, what he taught me went against everything Mr. Miyagi had been teaching me, but it also felt good. I broke a guy’s nose, just because.”

Johnny’s heart hurts only looking at the torment on Daniel’s face.

“Silver turned out to be a war buddy from Kreese, the money behind Cobra Kai. Kreese blamed me for his downfall and he wanted revenge. They hired Barnes to bully me so I would sign up for the tournament, then Silver trained me in order to destroy me physically and psychologically. Their goal was to inflict on me as much pain as they could. That’s where my scars come from.”

  
“That’s sick, even for Kreese.”

“They set me up at the dojo. Silver and Barnes were awaiting me then Kreese, who I thought to be dead, was in my face before I knew it. I think I’ve never screamed so hard in my life. God knows what they would have done if Mr. Miyagi hadn’t appeared.”

“Like on Halloween.”

“He swiped the floor with their asses, like on Halloween yeah. He was there for me, as always, and took me back in. He trained me for the finale. It was a shit show. Barnes would get a point then lose it on purpose so he wouldn’t win the match.”

“What for? I don’t get it.”

“Easy. Once the match ended, he couldn’t hit me anymore. They wanted me to suffer, and they succeeded. I was terrified. Karate had brought peace and confidence into my life, they turned those into hate and fear. I wanted to give up, but Mr. Miyagi wouldn’t let me. In the end I pulled through, and I won. Cobra Kai got banned and I never saw Silver again.”

“This is so fucked up.”

“You can’t even imagine how much.”

And he can’t, because that’s not the whole story as Dutch seems to know well, but it’s everything Johnny needs to know.

The couple of days left until New Year’s Eve are tense. Johnny sleeps on the couch and Daniel is barely home, spending as much time as possible at the dealership. By the time the 31th rolls around, Johnny is almost ready to pack his stuff, wanting to punch himself for his new record of being happy for about five days.

Daniel is chopping vegetables in the kitchen when Johnny approaches him. The blond reminds him of a dog that, having pissed in the living-room, tries to get his owner to forgive him: big eyes, tail between the legs and a sad expression on the face.

“Are you still mad at me?”

  
“Yeah, I’m going to be mad for a few days.”

  
“Does that mean I should leave tonight?”

Daniel snorts then laughs, a sound that haunts Johnny’s blissful dreams.

“You’re not getting out of this that easy.”

“I wasn’t talking about the dinner.”

Daniel stops his motions, drops the knife on the table, and turns around.

“Pardon me?”

Johnny shrugs at him, shyly putting his hands in his pockets, reminding him of Robby.

“I thought you may want to break up after the shit I pulled at the pub.”

“That’s how your relationships work? Someone fucks up and gets dumped?”

Johnny shrugs again because, yeah, that’s kind of how his relationships have always worked.

“For god’s sake Johnny, this isn’t High School. I didn’t ask you to move in with me so I could kick you out at the first bump in the road.”

“I guess that explains why you managed to stay married for twenty years and my longest relationship was in High School.”

“I guess so.”

“So we’re still together?”

  
“Why, do you want out?”

Johnny’s hands come up as to defend himself from a karate attack almost immediately.

“No, of course not. I’m just trying to understand how this works, some instructions would be nice.”

“We fight, we work through it and come out of it stronger. At least that’s the plan.”

“Good.”

“Good. You’re still sleeping in on the couch tonight though.”

“Oh, come on! It’s New Year’s Eve.”

Daniel snorts at him, a grin on his face.

“One minute ago you thought I was dumping your sorry ass and now you’re complaining about sleeping on the sofa? You’re a dick.”

“Yeah, you’ve said so multiple times through the years.”

“Be useful and come help me, this is stressful enough as it is.”

Johnny does so, but not before encircling Daniel’s waist and kissing him under the ear, a message of love and gratitude etched into it.

When Daniel ends up leaving to gather his kids, everything is ready.

An uneasy calm has fallen on the LaRusso’s household. Johnny sits at the table between Daniel and Sam, so he’s directly confronted with the perpetual pout on Anthony’s face. The kid has lost weight, Johnny notices, and that has revealed a physical resemblance to his father that no one would have pointed out before.

He’s been bratty since he came, Daniel almost having to drag him through the door and sit him at the table. He’s made no effort with his appearance either, sporting a pair of old jeans and a white sweater while his sister is dressed up in a beautiful blue dress that will certainly attract eyes at the party she’ll go to later. Johnny and Daniel have both put on shirts, black and white respectively, with black jeans and nice shoes.

The ambiance is awkward, but not explosive, Daniel ignoring every hateful comment Anthony ditches at him. The kid has decided to manifest his distaste for everything tonight, ranging from the table decorations to the heating system and everything in between until his sister decides it’s been enough.

“Anthony, stop the whining already.”

“You didn’t want to be here either!”

The only answer Anthony receives from his sister is a kick to the shin under the table.

  
“Kids, please, could we just eat before the food gets cold?”

Johnny frowns, Anthony rolls his eyes and Samantha smiles sympathetically at how exhausted her father sounds. They eat in silence for a few peaceful minutes until Johnny tries to break the ice.

“Samantha, Miguel told me you’ve been looking into colleges. Any idea about what do you want to do?”

Johnny knows Sam’s future is bright. She’s got the money, the brain and the looks. It’s a safe subject of discussion.

“I’m not sure yet, I’ve been thinking medicine, but I don’t really know.”

A secret smile passes between Johnny and Daniel who can’t help but be reminded of Ali, another girl who had once a bright future set up in front of her.

“That’s fine, honey. You’ve got time to figure it out.”

Daniel’s voice is reassuring and Samantha drinks it in. Johnny is jealous of them sometimes, envious of the complicity that flows in their conversations and gestures.

“Yeah, a lot of people need to figure shit out around this table.”

Anthony’s voice cuts through the tender moment as water turns fire into ashes. Johnny takes the time to look at him, truly look at him, and all he can see is Daniel at fifteen. Johnny never fully grasped LaRusso back then. He was all charming smiles and brown doe eyes, easy going and chatty, and yet there was always some storm brewing under all of that. There was always anger beyond the happy surface, a burning fire that threatened everything and everyone around the brunette.

Daniel LaRusso never started fights, but he looked forward to them with passion, throwing himself willingly in the way of danger any chance he got.

Johnny thinks Miyagi did notice all of that, deciding to offer Daniel an outlet in the form of Karate. Johnny wonders sometimes who Daniel LaRusso was before he his father died. Was he already angry or was the anger what the pain had morphed into?

“Yes, Anthony, every human being has to figure shit around.”

Daniel’s words are icy, colored with a tone he’d never use to talk to Sam.

“I though you were supposed to have done that already by the time you turn fifty and become ancient.”

Then Daniel laughs, surprise and pity in the musical sound that his mouth produces.

“Oh boy, you’re in for a surprise.”

Sam looks at Johnny, uneasy. She’s clearly ashamed by her brother’s behavior.

“Can you drop me home already?”

  
“No.”

“Oh, come on! This is bullshit!”

“Do you really think I don’t know what you’re doing? Do you think you’re slick trying to be as unpleasant as possible? Unpleasant enough I’ll give up and drive you home so you can’t ruin this diner? You can ruin it all you want Anthony, but you’re going to sit through it until we’re finished and the new year rolls in.”

Daniel’s voice is threateningly calm, and Johnny feels suddenly confronted with business shark LaRusso, a character he’s not that familiar with.

“You’re an asshole.”

“Yeah, well, you couldn’t have inherited the trait otherwise.”

There it is, the implicit recognition that they’re the same, that every flaw in Anthony’s character belongs to Daniel.

“That’s such a shame, isn’t it? I mean, so many guys in California and mom had to fuck you out of all of them.”

“QUIET.”

The word is out before Johnny’s brain can remind him that it’s not his place to say so. He has no business yelling at Daniel’s children. He has no business interfering in the matters of a family that’s not his, but he’ll be damned if he allows anyone to hurt Daniel that much without interfering once again. Anthony is talking shit, shit he’s gonna regret down the road.

Johnny still glances at Daniel with apprehension, wondering if he’s crossed some invisible line he can’t uncross, but Daniel’s eyes are unfocused.

“I need a breather, keep eating. I’ll be back for dessert.”

Then Daniel gets up, leaving his own table, with his own family sat at it, in his own house during New Year’s Eve dinner. Sam tries to follow but Johnny stops her, a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Let him be, he’s had a rough week. You can say whatever you want to when he comes back, yeah?”

“But he needs...”

“Space, sometimes people need space Sam. Plus, we have some matters to settle right here, haven’t we?”

Johnny then focuses on Anthony who has the decency to look slightly ashamed. It’s not only Daniel’s flaws the kids has inherited. Johnny can also see the LaRusso’s qualities shining through. He can sense the too big of a heart for his frame underneath the anger. He can feel the compassion and empathy underneath the temper.

“Do you have any idea how lucky you are that your mother, as you so eloquently put it, chose to fuck your dad out of all the boys in California?”

Sam winces at the words, but extreme situations call for extreme measures and Johnny is an expert at those.

“Do you want to know what I did when my son was born? I bolted as fast as I could. I drank and hide and made a big effort to be there as little as possible.”

  
“That’s cause you’re a piece of shit.”

“Yeah, I won’t deny it. Having a kid is scary, Anthony. To try and raise someone so he doesn’t come out a complete motherfucker is not an easy task. I’m not saying your father is perfect, but he’s been there, every step of the way, giving you his best self.”

Anthony snorts, but Johnny can see in his eyes he’s getting somewhere with his speech.

“I never knew my father because he never cared enough to even meet me. When I was your age I had a step father, one who made sure to tell me everyday how big of a failure I was going to be. You’ve got a guy who sends you to summer camps, makes you pancakes in the morning and cares enough to sit through dinner with you while you insult him. It’s the twentieth-first century, boy. People get divorces. People date other people from their same sex. Get over it and stop bitching about it.”

  
“Do you think I’m mad that my father is fucking a guy? Who do you think I am? A homophobic idiot? Give me some credit!”

“Then what the hell are you mad about?”

  
“I’m mad about everything else! I’m mad that my parents were living together, perfectly happy, and they’re not anymore. I’m mad that suddenly karate seems so more important than I do. I’m mad that he’s dating you, an orangutan with no brains nor manners! I’m mad that I never get the attention Sam does, the attention karate does, the attention you do.”

A shocked silence falls upon the table, freezing the three people around it. Sam takes one of Anthony’s hands in hers.

“Dad loves you as much as he loves me.”

  
“You were always his favorite.”

“That’s not fair. I share stuff with him you don’t ‘cause you’ve always refused to. He wanted to teach you karate as he taught me, but you declined. He tried to take you on camping trips as he did with me, but you’ve always said nature is, and I quote, for pussies.”

Johnny cracks a smile at that, he kind of likes the kid’s spirit.

“Look, I’m sorry that out of all the men in California your father chose to date me. I tend to agree with you on the fact that he could do better, but by some miracle he chose me, and I’m not going anywhere. So you can hate me all you want kid, but take it out on me, not him, and better get used to my handsome face because you’ll bee seeing more of it.”

Anthony rolls his eyes at him and all Johnny can picture is Daniel doing the same, that one time he entered the Cobra Kai dojo only to find out his blond nemesis was already there.

“It’s been a rough couple of years, for everyone. Can you please behave when he comes back?”

Sam’s tone is polite, but Johnny doesn’t do polite.

“Scratch that. You’re going to behave when he comes back or I’m kicking your ass, got it?”

Anthony seems inclined to accept the invitation and pick up the fight because it’s his nature to do so, but he allows his brain to win this round, sighing deeply before rolling his eyes and nodding.

“Don’t think you can bark orders at me now that you live here though.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it kid.”

He’s already got his hands full with Daniel, one bratty LaRusso is more than enough.

It’s a half past eleven by the time Daniel comes back to the table. He doesn’t mention where he’s gone or what he’s done, but he seems more collected. Sam smiles at him, then offers to take out, cut and serve the frozen cake Daniel has bought for dessert, throwing a meaningful look in Anthony’s direction. The kid begrudgingly takes the hint, muttering to his father to follow him into the garden so they can talk.

Even though Daniel has been living in California way longer than he ever did in New Jersey, the memories of what real cold is have never left his bones. He guesses that’s why he never truly feels it in LA, being comfortable sitting down in his garden at night on the last day of December. Anthony, however, is a West Coast’s native and his body shivers slightly at the crisp air of the night. Daniel hands over his jacket to his son and, although it’s not a perfect fit, it helps to keep the cold at bay.

“Where did you go?”

Anthony’s voice sounds small, far away from the bratty tone he had used throughout dinner, and Daniel has calmed enough to recognize his son’s attempt at a truce.

“The cemetery.”

Daniel loves to tell stories, but there’s many things he never tells his kids. Tonight, however, he’s ready to relish control, too tired to do otherwise.

“What for?”

Daniel smiles at Anthony’s frown and confusion.

“I went to visit Mr. Miyagi’s tomb.”

Anthony had been too young when Mr. Miyagi had passed to remember him. He’s been told multiple times how the old man had been the third person to hold him when he was born, Samantha being too scared of dropping him on the floor or something. He’s heard a hundred tales about him, his sister and mother speaking always very fondly of him.

“Do you miss him?”

Anthony listens, even though nobody believes. He barely takes his eyes of a screen, that much is true, but he still listens. He knows Mr. Miyagi had been a father to his own. He recognizes the reverence in his dad’s voice whenever he talks about him. He’s been able to gather there’s been a hole in his dad since he died, a hole he has never known how to fill.

He’s wondered sometimes what would have changed if he’d had access to Mr. Miyagi’s legendary wisdom during childhood the way Sam had. He always pictured him as a game’s character in his mind, some kind of Yoda who guides young Jedis towards their destinies.

“Horribly. You never value what you’ve got until you lose it for good.”

Anthony is then attacked with images of a future time, one where his father isn’t, one he tries to shut down as fast as he can.

“Look, I don’t really know how to do this. I’m sorry, all right? I just… I guess I’m not that good at change.”

Daniel can picture his mother laughing at him in his mind, reminding him that’s something he shares with his son.

“It’s fine, Anthony. You take the time you need to figure it out.”

Anthony nods at him, grateful about how graceful his father is being about his shitty behavior.

“I didn’t mean it. What I said back at the table, I didn’t mean it. You have to know that, right?”

Anthony is a tough nut to crack. Samantha had always been confident enough to be open about her emotions, wearing her heart on her sleeve and never holding back words of love, whereas Anthony had always been more guarded, careful not to show people the places they could strike to hurt him. Daniel is able to recognize the vulnerability Anthony is showing at the moment, appreciating the full value of it.

“I know. It’s fine, forget about it.”

His son gets up then throws his hands around his neck in an unexpected gesture, hugging Daniel tightly. Daniel hugs back.

“I love you, Anthony.”

Anthony hugs him with more strength.

“Johnny is not going anywhere though.”

  
“I know.”

“Neither is karate.”

“I know.”

His son disentangles himself from his dad after mumbling those words into his neck.

“Maybe we could arrange for that camping trip you were talking about last year.”

  
“I though nature was for, and I quote, pussies.”

Anthony shrugs, rolling his eyes at the same time.

  
“Only idiots don’t change their minds, dad.”

Daniel nods, eager to take Anthony up on his offer. He’ll soon be a teenager, too old to hang out with his father, so Daniel must take everything he can get while there’s still time.

They go back inside to find Samantha laughing about some stupid story Johnny is telling her about Miguel and Daniel smiles at them, feeling for the first time that Johnny may have been right, maybe things would turn out good in the end. They receive the new year together, gathered around the table like a family, a smile on their faces.

It’s midnight and a half when Daniel allows his children to leave the table, ordering them to gather their things so he can take them where they’re supposed to go. Sam had insisted she could driver herself to the party, having a new car and all, but Daniel had refused categorically. No driving where alcohol was involved.

“I could take them. I mean, I promised Miguel I would take him to that party, so I can take Sam too. I can drop Anthony before all of that.”

It would make more sense to drop the two teenagers first, because the location of the party is actually closer to Miguel’s house than Anthony’s home, but then Anthony would have to be in the car alone with Johnny which may be uncomfortable and undo any progress they may have achieved tonight.

Daniel looks at Johnny with a real smile for the first time in a couple of days, and he may be very well convinced stop the couch thing already, putting the blond back in his bed.

Johnny ends up needing almost forty-five minutes to do all the driving. He can feel the emotional exhaustion of the past couple of days. He curses at his old age, remembering the years he used to work at bars during spring break and the number of white nights in a row he could pull off without missing a single session at the gym through the day. Now here he is, over fifty, ready to drag his old bones to the couch on New Year’s night before two am.

Once he comes inside, Johnny has to blink twice. The table has been cleared and the dishwasher is already on. The Christmas decorations have been taken down, put in a couple of boxes that lie in the living room. Daniel emerges from their room, in his stupid pajamas, as Johnny drops the keys on the table.

“Everything’s all right?”

“Yeah, Amanda said hi. Robby told me he’s moving in on Monday. Did you know about that?”

  
Daniel only shrugs at him, feigning to be the innocent angel he has always looked like but has never actually been.

God, Johnny loves that fucker so much he could burst with it.

“Are you all right? It’s been a rough week.”

Daniel snorts at him while sitting on the sofa, plopping his feet on the table and dropping his arms on his sides.

“That’s an understatement, but it’s fine, Christmas is finally over.”

Johnny has to do a double take at that, looking at the boxes in the living room while the sentence plays on a loop in his head.

  
“Wait a second, you wanted Christmas to be over?”

  
“Yeah, it’s not really my favorite period of the year.”

The fucker.

“What do you mean it’s not your favorite period of the year? You practically forced me to celebrate it.”

“Oh, come on, don’t be so dramatic Lawrence. I only put a couple of decorations in your apartment, you did the rest.”

THE FUCKER.

“Plus, that I don’t love it doesn’t mean I don’t think it should be celebrated.”

Johnny leaves his jacket on a chair before sitting next to Daniel on the couch.

“I thought you were one of those assholes obsessed over candy Christmas, trees and lights.”

  
“Sorry to disappoint.”

“Why don’t you like it?”

Daniel looks at him for a couple of seconds before sighing.

“My father used to love it. When December rolled around he would put me in the car and drive out of the city. We would go to one of those places where there are trees and you can cut the one you pick. We’d spent hours choosing the right one then over a week decorating it at home.”

Johnny looks at the light dancing in Daniel’s eyes, getting a glimpse of the over excited child he must have been.

  
“There was always lots of food, and people, and sounds during Christmas time, a good pile of gifts under the tree too. Then he died. One Christmas he was singing a carol through the window into the cold New Jersey air then, the next one, he was gone. Just like that. So were the food, the people and the sounds.”

Johnny clasps one of Daniel’s hands in his, trying to convey all the love he feels for his once enemy turned friend, then lover, then life partner.

“My mother felt guilty after that, so the next year she went all out for my sake, but it was never the same. I didn’t want it to be anyway. She kept celebrating it for my sake, and I kept celebrating it for her sake, but the only thing I could really see was the empty chair at our table.”

“That sucks.”

  
“Yeah, California did help though. It’s not the same as Christmas in New Jersey, it’s easier. But as time goes by, the number of empty chairs grows.”

Johnny nods, knowing the feeling as every adult does.

“Why do you celebrate it then?”

“I wanted to give my kids what my father gave me. Absence is the shittiest thing there is, but it’s also good to remember the people that used to be at the table and all the good things they brought to you. It’s a way to carry their legacy I guess.”

Johnny smiles, remembering the little bonsai tree at his apartment decorated with his mother ornaments.

“Yeah, I see your point.”

“It’s still a bit of a relief once it’s over, though. Plus, I don’t think my stomach can take another Christmas dinner until next year.”

Johnny hums, the thin layer of fat he’s put on during the last couple of weeks agreeing with Daniel.

“So, shouldn’t you leave me to my new bed?”

  
Daniel smiles at him while toying with the collar of his black shirt between his fingers.

“Actually, I’ve been thinking about ending that punishment.”

“Really? You shouldn’t, I deserve it.”

Daniel smiles at Johnny’s blunt honesty. It’s refreshing for someone in the business of selling cars.

“You probably do, but life’s short and Dutch is an asshole, what else is new?”

Johnny doesn’t protest as Daniel proceeds to kiss him senseless on the couch.

“Happy new year”, he whispers into the brunette’s mouth.

“Happy new year indeed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year (I'm late, I know)! And happy new season of Cobra Kai!
> 
> Come chat with me on Tumblr? Maybe you can give me some prompts. Find me [HERE](https://clementines-stuff.tumblr.com/)


	3. Happy Valentine's Week!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny decides to give Daniel seven surprises for Valentine's Day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is tooth rotting fluff. It's so fluffy I'm almost ashamed to have written it. Ye who enter here have been warned.

Johnny Lawrence is not a romantic man. He is not detail-orient ate d. He’ll never forget a face, but he’ll barely remember birthdays, anniversaries and that kind of stuff. Ask Ali Mills. 

Johnny is not into celebrating love, and corny stuff like that, so he’s not a Valentine’s Day fan. Were you expecting anything else? When he loves a hot babe, he does it all year around and not  on one particular day because the system has decided it needed to cash on his romantic feelings. 

Johnny Lawrence is a simple guy. Routine, that thing so many people talk about with such disdain, is Johnny’s own little heaven on earth.

He likes to wake up to Daniel cooking breakfast before going to work. He likes to tie his GI in the same exact manner he’s been doing for over  four decades. He enjoys watching  _ Top Gun _ once a month. It’s called stability, and Johnny has not enjoyed that much of it in his life. 

So he doesn’t see the need for candle dinners, stupid gifts no one really enjoys but after a break up when you get to destroy them, and love declarations devoid of any true meaning.

This doesn’t mean Johnny Lawrence doesn’t do Valentine’s Day. He’s done it plenty of times because it gets you babes.

Johnny can’t count the number of times he’s put on a stupid suit, bought overpriced flower s and hideous Teddy bears so he could get laid. 

He doesn’t need to do that anymore because he’s getting laid on a regular basis with someone who’s not expecting anything from him he’s not  already getting. 

And yet, for once in his life, Johnny Lawrence wants to do Valentine’s Day.

Daniel LaRusso is a romantic.  He confronted Johnny and his little High School clique out of puppy love. He once fought to death out of love, and Johnny suspected he also became rich out of love for his mother and every sacrifice she had made in his name. 

Daniel has not made any grand romantic gestures like that for Johnny, but he d oesn ’t need to. It’ s all in the little gestures. 

During winter, Johnny come s home to the socks and boxers he wears to sleep  warming up on the radiator. Whenever Daniel  goes shopping, Johnny w ill find something new for him on the bed, always the right size. On  the date of  Laura’s birthday  last year , Daniel had planted white roses in the garden so Johnny would have a place to  honor her memory and be with her.

The very least that man deserved was a nice Valentine’s Day, so Johnny does the only thing he can think of: he goes to his own personal Wikipedia.

***

“Diaz!”

Miguel doesn’t answer immediately, so Johnny keeps knocking on the door until the teenager comes stumbling through it.

“What! What’s happening? Is there fire? Did someone get in an accident? Oh my god, it’s Hawk, isn’t it?”

Johnny observes as Miguel’s eyes almost pop while his mouth moves faster than Sabrina’s breasts in the “Boys” song’s clip. 

Sometimes he forgets Diaz is probably the only person who can  pronounce as many words per minute as bratty teenage Daniel LaRusso  could.

“Why the fuck would there be fire? And why would have Hawk been in accident? Is there something going on I don’t know about?”

Diaz finally calms himself  enough  to look at Johnny and take his scowl in, realizing that a disaster may not have happened. At least not yet.

“Well, sorry for assuming something big was going on when you knock on my door like you’re Sheldon Cooper and I’m Penny.”

Johnny looks more confused by the second.

“Huh? Who the hell are those people? Hockey players?”

Miguel sighs, dismissing the question with his hand.

“What are you doing here, sensei?”

“I need advice. Are your mom and grandma here?”

“No, mom is working and grandma is at the bingo with her friends.”

Johnny smirks, he likes that woman’s spirit, then goes in without an invitation. Miguel closes the door, mumbling about what his life has come to, before following and ending up on the couch next to Johnny.

“So, advice about what? Did your laptop got a virus again?”

“What? No, LaRusso bought me one with a stupid apple on it so it wouldn’t happen again.”

Miguel snorts and thanks the Lord for the patience they all seem to have with the man in front of him, trapped somewhere between 1984 and 1989.

“It’s about LaRusso, couple stuff.”

“What did you do? Please, tell me you don’t have an affair or anything like that. Things with Sam are going so well right now, and if you fuck it up with her dad I’m gonna have to take your side and she’ll hate my guts, then she’ll end up dumping me for some college athlete or something and”

“QUIET.”

Miguel’s rambling instantly stops while Johnny drops a hand on his shoulder.

“First of all, breathe. You need to breathe in between words or you’ll get a stroke before losing your V card and we don’t want that, Diaz. Second, why would you assume I’d be the one fucking it up, huh? Maybe it was LaRusso and I’m the victim here.”

Miguel looks at him unconvinced and Johnny rolls his eyes at the teen.

“Third, it’s nice that you only care about my relationship because of your girlfriend. Careful, Diaz. Girlfriends usually go, senseis stay.”

“Fine, I’m sorry for assuming stuff. Would you tell me what’s going on so I can stop doing so?”

“Valentine’s Day is coming up.”

Miguel nods enthusiastically.

“Oh, I know. I’ve got this whole thing planned for Sam… It’s gonna be awesome.”

“Yeah? Remind me to buy you condoms then. Oh, someone’s already given you the sex talk, right?”

Miguel breathes deeply, suppressing a smirk.

“First of all, I can get condoms for free at school. Second, we’re not there yet. Third, yes, and even if no one had, I’m pretty sure you’re not the right person for the job.”

Johnny nods, happy they’re on the same page about that.  He suddenly thinks about Robby and hopes Shannon has already educated him on that matter.  Although that  doesn’t sound super reassuring.  Maybe he can get Daniel to make sure things are fine on that front. 

“Anyways, I want to do something for LaRusso, but I don’t know what.”

“Oh, you want to give your boyfriend a Valentine surprise. That is so cute, sensei.”

Sweetness drips of Miguel’s voice while he flutter s his dark eyelashes at him, mirth written in his eyes.

“Do you know your girlfriend comes home every weekend? She enjoys the stories I tell over dinner, I’m sure she’d love the ones I can share about you.”

“I am so sorry. Never again will I laugh at how in love you are. I’ll help you with everything you need. Please, please, do not tell her anything you know.”

Johnny smirks, fluttering his light eyelashes at Miguel.

“It’s a deal.”

Between Johnny’s passion and Miguel’s sensitivity they come up with the perfect plan. Johnny Lawrence is going to celebrate Valentine’s Day for a whole week:  s ix surprises  and a  grand finale on February 14 th . He’s going to knock Daniel LaRusso’s socks off.


	4. The Plush Toys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for Daniel's first surprise.

N ext thing he knows, Miguel is looking for vintage lockers on Amazon. His sensei has been driving him crazy for hours now, protesting about every option Miguel comes up with.

“Why don’t we go shopping for stuff in person? You guys don’t know how to do anything without that dumb box.”

Miguel glares at Johnny, he has no right to call the precious baby he’s being building up for months a “dumb box”. If there was something dumb in the room, it definitely wasn’t his computer.

“Sure, sensei, please enlighten me on where are we going to physically shop for 1984’s High School lockers.”

Johnny at least has the decency to look abashed, mumbling something Miguel can’t comprehend.

“What did you just say?”

“Light blue.”

“Huh?”

“Light blue 1984’s High School lockers.”

Miguel bangs his head against his hand as he rolls his eyes. Of course. Of fucking course there’s an exact shade of blue he needs to find.

“Remind me why I am wasting a perfectly good afternoon I could use to train, hang out, or have a date with Sam, looking for lockers on Amazon?”

“I’ve told you Diaz, that locker is needed for the first awesome surprise LaRusso is getting.”

“Didn’t you bully him in High School because your ex liked him?”

Johnny glares at Miguel, rubbing his hands together.

“It’s way more complicated than that, okay? He wasn’t the innocent doe eyed boy he makes everyone believe he was.”

“Are you saying there are reasons to bully someone?”

“No, what I am saying is he gave as good as he received.”

Miguel sighs, knowing that conversation is a lost cause anyway.

“I just don’t get why you’d like to recreate a time when you two hated each other’s guts for Valentine’s Day.”

Upon hearing Miguel’s words, Johnny’s mind drifts back in time as he looks outside the window, into the parking lot.

_It was hard to let Daniel go after the tournament. Johnny kept good on his word, not bothering LaRusso after the All Valley. LaRusso didn’t rub his grand victory in Johnny’s face, and that was that._

_LaRusso had taken Ali and Cobra Kai from him, leaving him in the dust. They didn’t became friends, not even acquaintances. They would acknowledge each other’s existence while passing in the corridors with a nod of their heads in each other direction._

_The whole thing was anticlimactic enough for Johnny to almost be disappointed._

_He didn’t do anything to get closer to Daniel though. Karate had been the only language through which they could communicate, and Johnny had put karate to rest._

_When Bobby decided to knock on LaRusso’s door on early December, asking for the forgiveness they didn’t deserve, Johnny wasn’t by his side._

_That didn’t mean he was able to completely let go of LaRusso though. His life had revolved around that kid for months and he found himself observing him from time to time, Bobby being the only one to notice, Bobby who was merciful enough to keep silent about it._

_Although Daniel had become fairly popular after the tournament, he had stuck with Ali’s friends, even though their dislike of him had remained blatantly obvious._

_A hundred All Valley’s titles wouldn’t change Daniel’s poor background. Ali may not have cared, but that invisible barrier would never go away. Johnny knew the feeling well._

_He’d played the rich kid part long enough for it to feel almost natural, but deep down he knew what a fraud he was, waiting for life to call him out on it._

_He didn’t have money, Sid did, and Johnny was nothing to Sid but the price he had to pay to keep Laura._

_It’s not that Daniel was alone, he never really was after November ‘84. He was a pretty boy with dimples and doe eyes, girls falling over him under Ali’s watchful eye. Boys seemed to admire him from afar, surprised and glad someone had stood up to the Cobras._

_He wasn’t alone, but he seemed lonely, always surrounded but never in real company. Johnny had wondered sometimes what would had happened if he’d gotten to Daniel before Ali did._

_What if Daniel had wanted to make friends, joining Cobra Kai to do so, becoming one of the boys. He always shook those thoughts as quickly as he could though, not wanting to imagine Daniel under Kreese’s wing._

_1985’s days came slowly and went fast. They’d be graduating soon and everybody seemed to be lost amid images of what their future would be like._

_Johnny had realized by then his life had reached its peak during High School, and he counted the days to his impending doom._

_What were you supposed to do with the rest of your life when you had been the happiest you would ever before turning 20? Prom would be his funeral._

_Without karate to fill their evenings, the boys spent more time at the dinner that stood in front of what had once been their sacred dojo, and at the beach drinking and dancing around fires._

_That meant bumping into Daniel, Ali, and their perfect little romance. Johnny had expected it to hurt more than it did. Something was off in LaRusso’s eyes, as if he too was patiently waiting for his own doom to come._

_He smiled at Ali showing his dimples, flirted with her skillfully, kissed her in the corridors and whispered nonsense into her ear to make her laugh, but he did so like someone who tries to eat as much as he can knowing a famine is about to strike._

_In 1985, Valentine’s Day had been on a Thursday. Johnny used to love Thursdays because it was the day they had PE._

_He would pass the ball around with the boys, running as fast as he could, emptying his lungs and his head on the hard pavement._

_That day they played soccer and LaRusso, fast as a gazelle, scored. Johnny wondered what would had happened if they had not sabotaged his tryouts with the soccer team. Maybe they could have become friends playing ball, being in the same team instead of facing each other on a mat._

_The boys talked about going to the movies while changing. They were all single, ready to mingle for the summer, and wanted to escape Valentine’s couples around town._

_Johnny had agreed, wanted to retrieve the algebra book from his locker before meeting up with them in the parking lot._

_He was about to leave when he heard Ali’s delighted gasp behind him. He turned around carefully, not wanting to be seen, but no one was paying him any attention._

_A string of plush toys, of different sizes, shapes and colors, had fallen out of Ali’s locker. In front of her stood LaRusso, a single red rose in his right hand and a smile plastered on his face._

_Johnny remained frozen on the spot, wondering how it was possible for a kid to be confident enough to do something so corny in public._

_Ali was looking at LaRusso bewildered, having gone from a boyfriend who had forgotten her birthday to one who had filled her locker with plush toys for Valentine’s day._

_Ali’s friends laughs, full of malice and mockery, broke the trance they had all been lost in._

_They started pointing fingers, making obnoxious comments about LaRusso’s cheesiness and his lack of maturity._

“ _What are we? In Junior High?”_

“ _Really Ali? You’re about to go off to college!”_

“ _Please, this is too much. That kid is the biggest weirdo"._

_Johnny should probably had jumped at the chance to make fun of LaRusso, but he couldn’t find it in him to be that cruel any longer._

_LaRusso had looked angrily at them then at Ali, who seemed unable to defend him, and had stomped off furiously, walking by Johnny without seeing him._

_Ali had shouted at her friends, taking the plush toys and putting them back into her locker as fast as she could before sprinting off to find LaRusso._

_After a few moments, her friends had scattered off, walking among laughs and whispers._

_Johnny had remained on the same spot, eyes fixated on Ali’s locker until he saw that one plush toy remained on the floor, separated from its peers. It was a Ninja Turtle, Michelangelo to be exact. Johnny had read the comic when it came out last year._

_He laughed then, remembering Michelangelo had been the optimistic one, the one who wouldn’t stop talking, the witty one who would stuff his face with pizza._

_Johnny still swears to this day he doesn’t know what took over him in that instant, but he walked towards the plush toy, collected it from the floor and put it in his school bag, bringing it home._

“You’re telling me you’ve still gotten a plush toy your now partner once rival gave to his High School girlfriend, the one you fought over with him, in 1985?”

Johnny shrugs at Miguel, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“Christ. I swear it doesn’t matter how weird I think your relationship is, I always find out something new that makes it even weirder.”

“Hey!”

Johnny cries indignantly, although he can’t deny Miguel has got a point.

“Whatever, I do think it’s kind of unbelievably cute that you’ve still got the plush toy.”

Johnny glares at him, his skin crawling at the use of the word “ _cute_ ” in anything related to him.

“This being said, are you sure it’s a good idea to reenact a situation in which Mr. LaRusso probably felt super humiliated?”

“That’s the whole point, Diaz! To turn a shitty memory into a good one.”

Johnny’s eyes turn towards the shelf where his 1985 second place prize rests among others trophies and Miguel understands, even though he’s still not sure it’s the same.

“Fine sensei, but just in case this turns out wrong, I want it to be clear that I warned you.”“Yeah, yeah, you’re the voice of reason, Diaz. We have six more surprises to prepare, so find a damn locker and buy me some plush toys on Amaton.”

“It’s AmaZon.”

“Whatever.”

In the end they find a locker that’s almost an exact replica of the one Daniel and Johnny used to have. It’s red though, so Johnny ends up painting it the exact hue of blue he remembers from his High School days. He gets around fifteen plush toys so he can fill the locker with them and buys Daniel a single red rose. He also rummages into the few boxes he still hasn’t unpacked, finding the Michelangelo plush toy at the bottom of one of them. He’s taken good care of the thing, but it’s been over three decades and it shows. He puts it into the washing machine, hoping for the best, and thinks the ending result is not that bad. On February 7th, Daniel comes home to a light blue locker standing in the middle of the living room.

Dropping his briefcase on a chair, he approaches it, surprise lighting his face.

“What the hell… Is this?”

He turns towards Johnny who’s nervously sitting on the couch, his right leg bouncing up and down.

“It’s not the real one, but it’s close enough.”

Daniel laughs as he takes off his tie, throwing it on the table.

“Why is there a replica of our High School lockers sitting in the living room?”

Johnny bites his lip, almost hearing Miguel’s voice in his head telling him it’s the last chance to back out, but Johnny’s never been good at that. Strike first, strike hard, no mercy. As much as he’s been trying to distance himself from some of Cobra Kai’s philosophy, some things are too deeply engraved in his bones.

“Why don’t you open it to find out?”

Daniel’s eyes hop from the locker to Johnny’s face, genuine confusion etched on his face, before he extends his hand towards the locker.

“1985.”

Daniel looks at him, his confusion getting stronger.

“The code. It’s 1985.”

Before Daniel can register what’s happening, a myriad of plush toys fall upon him. For a couple of seconds, he feels like Ali Mills felt on February the 14th of 1985, except for the loved and cherished part. He feels like he’s being pranked once again, like he used to be pranked on almost a daily basis when he attended West Valley High School.

Johnny has moved to stand next to him, a single red rose in his right hand. He can see the rapid succession of emotions registering on Daniel’s face: surprise, disbelief, anger, pain. Johnny wants to kick himself hard. He wants to block Miguel’s voice in his head saying “ _I told you so_ ” but it seems to be on repeat.

“You saw that? You were there on Valentine’s Day in 1985?”

Johnny shrugs, unable to defend his surprise now it has so blatantly failed.

“I was leaving when Ali opened her locker. I kind of saw, yeah.”

“And you though it was so funny you had to reenact it?”

“I… Daniel, listen, it’s not… It’s not...”

Johnny is stumbling through words and Daniel is getting angrier with every passing second.

“Have you laughed about this with Ali on Facebook?”

“What?”

“You left the Facebook tab open on the computer the other day.”

“It’s not what you think.”

“Really? Cause your message felt like the one a guy trying to get back the love of his life would write.”

“You read my message?”

“Yes, okay? I read your fucking message. It was open, it was right under my nose and I couldn’t help it, but don’t fucking turn this on me.”

Johnny throws his hands in the air, asking for a time out.

“Fine, calm the fuck down. I sent that message before anything had happened between us, okay? But she just accepted my friendship request the other day.”

“Then you went on a date with her.”

“It wasn’t a date LaRusso, we met up to catch up. That’s it, I swear. Yes, I’ve been hung up on Ali for a really long time, but not anymore. You, on the other hand, I’m still fucking hung up on you.”

“Did you tell her?”

“What?”  
  
“Did you tell her we were together?”

“What?”

“Don’t play dumb, Johnny. If you’re so sure about us, you must have told her, huh?”

Johnny stays silent as Daniel goes in for the kill.

“That’s what I thought.”

“Come on LaRusso, that’s not fair! I told her I was dating someone, alright? I told her I was in love with someone and that I had never been happier. I didn’t tell her it was the guy she dated in High School after dumping my ass. Judge me if you dare.”

“I wouldn’t have if you hadn’t felt the need to remind me I was the laughing stock of my ex’s friends in High School!”

Daniel stomps off after yelling those words, reminding Johnny of his angry steps on February 14th 1985\. He doesn’t go after him the way Ali did though. He knows Daniel’s temper well enough to be sure nothing good would come out of it. LaRusso needs time to calm down, and so does Johnny. He breathes, remembering the shit Daniel himself has taught him, and lets go of his anger at Daniel’s mistrust. He then carefully pack the plush toys back up into the locker, tucking the Michelangelo one under his arm, taking it with him.

Daniel does karate until late that night to unwind, trying to punch his anger away and regain balance practicing kata. He misses dinner, leaving Johnny and Robby to enjoy the lasagna he prepared for them in the morning before going to work. When he sets foot into the bedroom he shares with Johnny to call it a night, there’s a plush toy on the center of the bed. It’s an old one, and something awakens in Daniel’s heart the moment he recognizes for what it is. When Johnny comes out of their en suited bathroom, Daniel is clutching Michelangelo between his hands.

“How do you have this?”

“Did you recognize it?”

“When I broke up with Ali, she dropped a box full of the stuff I had given her over the months we shared. There was no Michelangelo in it.”

“You look bummed about it.”

Daniel shrugs.

“I didn’t buy it for her, it was gifted to me by someone important.”

“When you got mad and left because of her stupid friends, she collected the plush toys as fast as she could and put them back in the locker so she could run after you. She missed one though, it stayed on the floor.”

Daniel snorts, disbelief filling him.

“And you picked it up?”

Johnny silently nods.

“Why? To keep laughing at me whenever you felt like it?”

Johnny rolls his eyes, his hands on his hips.

“God, you’re such a brat LaRusso. I don’t know why, okay? I just… I felt a pull towards it and picked it up, then I kept it through the years.”

Daniel’s features are more relaxed now. He’s looking at the plush toy with reverence. Johnny takes his chance to keep going.

“It reminded me of you, I guess. I don’t know why I wanted to remember you, but it reminded me of you.”

Daniel smiles then, a real smile, crooked teeth and all.

“It wasn’t a prank, Daniel. I just wanted to turn a shitty memory into a nice one. I’m sorry I got at it the wrong way.”

Daniel drops the plush toy on the bed.

“I’m sorry too, I may have overreacted, but High School was pretty traumatic for me.”

He doesn’t say “ _because of you_ ”, but Johnny hears it anyway.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the whole Ali thing. Look, I won’t deny I was curious, but it’s not like I had planned on cheating on you with her or something. It was nice to hang out with her and it was also enlightening.”

“Enlightening how?”

Daniel’s hands are on Johnny’s hips now, playing with the loops of his low cut jeans.

“I’ve spent half my life convinced I was in love with her, but I didn’t feel anything. I mean, I felt a lot of affection, but I didn’t feel what I feel for you.”

He encircles Daniel’s waist then, dropping his head on his shoulder.

“I was an asshole in High School, and I’ve been an asshole about the whole Ali thing.”

Johnny can feel Daniel smirking and laughs lowly.

“Don’t you have any flaw of your own to admit?”

“I shouldn’t read your private conversations, no matter the circumstances, and I should have told you about it the moment I read it.”

Johnny nods and hugs Daniel tighter.

“I guess it’s time to make some new memories then.”

Daniel drags Johnny to the living room and they open the locker together, laughing at the plush toys, assessing them one by one. Most of them are from the eighties, little nostalgia vehicles. There’s Fluppy Dogs, Puffalumps, Gummi Bears and Popples. Daniel and Johnny are fifteen again, enjoying the first date they ever had, dopey grins on their faces.

Robby, who has been spying the whole scene from a corner, goes back to his room unnoticed. He sighs happily, glad the tension he’s felt all day around the house is finally gone. He takes out his phone and texts Miguel.

“ _You were right. It was a disaster, but he turned it around. I hope he’s put more thought into the next surprise._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please, ignore the fact that the Ninja Turtles stuff doesn’t work that well in this chronology. I’m a 90's girl, what can I say? I couldn’t resit.


	6. The Ex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny goes to Amanda for a little inspiration on what to get Daniel

Johnny nervously shifts his weight from one foot to another in front of the LaRusso mansion as he waits for the door to open.

Even though he’s been there a handful of times already, that place always manages to make him feel inadequate. He feels under dressed in his tight pants, beat snickers and washed Jean jacket.

He feels twelve years all over again, hanging by his mother’s hand as he contemplates Sid’s little palace in front of him for the first time.

At first, when his mother had told him they were going to live in a big and beautiful place, like the ones depicted in fairytales, Johnny had thought he’d be delighted, running around while laughing.

“ _A place made of the stuff of dreams_ ”, that’s what his mother had told him the night before, whispering into his ear.

What he had felt, however, had been a deep feeling of non belonging. He had wanted to run as fast as he could towards a place, any place, that would not make him feel he wasn’t enough. That feeling had never entirely left him, even after years of playing the Encino rich native part.

He had avoided the Valley’s mansions as much as he could after leaving Sid’s in the late eighties, stepping foot in them only to do some handyman jobs. He had felt more at ease then, being stared down by rich assholes who couldn’t use a hammer to save their lives.

He knew he was being irrational though, because there is no Sid behind this particular door, neither some rich entitled bastard.

Amanda would open the door, genuinely smiling at him, as if the necklace around her neck didn’t cost as much as his once monthly rent, as if knowing he was fucking her ex husband didn’t slightly sting sometimes.

“Johnny! I’m glad to see you, come in!”

Johnny does so, following her into the kitchen.

“I’m starving, I had such a long morning at the dealership. How about you? Sam told me you’re teaching at Topanga dojo.”

“Yeah, it’s been good, less stressful than running your own.”

Johnny delivers the words like he believes them and Amanda doesn’t call out his bullshit because she believes in mercy.

“Do you want anything?”

“I won’t refuse a beer if you’ve got one to offer.”

“Gotcha!”

Amanda drops a beer in front of him, a fancy one, and sits facing him as she lets her high heels drop on the floor.

“I dare anyone to wear those for work and say torture has been banished from society. So, what brings you to the lioness den?”

Johnny snorts at the nickname, his fondness for the woman sitting in front of him showing.

“Actually, I’m here to ask for a little help. Valentine’s Day is coming up and I’m struggling about what to give Daniel.”

A tense silence falls upon them.

Amanda and Daniel had a friendly divorce, as friendly as that shit can be, and they’ve done a decent job of co parenting since then.

The whole clan has even reunited once or twice, including Amanda’s new partner, around nice food and wine.

They all have achieved somewhat of a balance, including the kids, a balance Johnny may have destroyed by entering Daniel’s ex house to ask his ex wife what LaRusso would like for Valentine’s Day.

But then Amanda laughs, a pure and sincere laugh that carries bewilderment at the whole situation but not malice, and Johnny can breathe

“If someone had told me five years ago I’d be sitting at this table giving advice to the guy Daniel beat at that stupid Karate tournament decades ago on what to get him for Valentine’s Day I’d...”

Then she laughs, she can’t stop laughing and Johnny joins in because it is utterly ridiculous and yet, to him, it makes so much sense.

“I know, sounds crazy huh?”

“Yeah, yeah, but it’s not a bad crazy. All things considered, our lives are going fairly well I guess.”

Once she has calmed down, she takes a sip of wine and observes him.

“Daniel is kind of a sap, an emotional guy. He usually got me meaningful stuff for Valentine’s Day, from plush toys when we were younger to jewels, family portraits, trips and everything of the sort you can imagine.”

Johnny smirks, he knows that man so well.

“Personally, I’ve always been more interested into the naughty side of things.”

Johnny coughs, some beer spluttering down his chin.

“Don’t give me that, Lawrence. We were married for decades, we’ve had plenty of sex. Plus, Daniel is very good in the sack, as you must know, and I definitely am on the same level.”

“Sorry, it’s always kind of weird to hear about your partner’s sexual life with other people.”

“Yeah, well, try having your ex husband’s partner asking you for tips on Valentine’s Day. Anyway, there was one thing I believe he particularly enjoyed.”

Johnny puts his beer aside, leaning towards Amanda, curiosity eating at him.

“I used to wear edible underwear to bed on Valentine’s Day. THE MESS.”

She winks at Johnny as she says it, letting herself drop back on her chair smirking, sipping at her wine.

Johnny’s brain is assaulted by all sorts of weird images and he doesn’t even know if they turn him on or off.

Amanda is on her feet before he can decide on the matter though, happily announcing she’s getting her laptop so they can do some online shopping.

That’s how Johnny ends up buying a posing pouch made of candy on Amazon, that stupid website Miguel spends half his life on.

“ _Fun Naughty gift for any occasion_ ”, the product description says, “ _What a Tasty Treat!_ ”. His brain is not 100% on board with this whole thing yet, but his cock seems to be very happy about it, and Johnny has always had a closer relationship with the latest.

The item arrives the next day in an unsuspecting brown package.

Since Daniel is at the leadership and Robby is at Moon’s, Johnny opens the package to find a box inside. Once he opens it, he takes out a posing pouch made of colorful candy rings and sniffs it curiously.

Before he can think further, Johnny is undressing completely and putting the thing on, careful to not break it up before Daniel can have his fun.

His purchase sits nicely on his toned hips and his cock feels heavy in the little pouch. The pastel colors of the candy are a stark contrast to his pale skin, and Johnny can’t decide if he feels completely ashamed or mesmerized.

He’s proud of his body, and he has every reason to. He’s got a good genetic base, one he’s been working on since he took up karate in his early teenage years.

Sure, the alcohol, the bad sleeping schedule, the fast food and his overall life hygiene may not have been the best, but he’s never stopped working out and it shows. Plus, the last months of home cooked food, all of Daniel talks about macrobiotics, supplements and stuff has done wonders for him.

Johnny Lawrence is pretty sure he could fill his old High School with kids in their twenties who’d kill to get his fifty something body.

His face is also still extremely pretty, it’s even prettier now that he gets to be loved everyday and has not to worry about bills he can’t afford.

Johnny takes off the pouch, puts it back into the box and leaves it under the bed. He leaves the bedroom feeling as confident as ever.

If someone can pull off a candy posing pouch, that’s Johnny freaking Lawrence.

Johnny and Daniel dine alone that night. Robby is still at Moon’s, and Johnny wanders whether his son has moved in with his girlfriend and her family and has forgotten to tell them about it. He shakes the thought while he reaches for the wine, concentrating on the man in front of him.

Daniel seems tired, lines around the eyes more pronounced than usually. He’s been putting long hours at the dealership this week, and things between them are still a little awkward after the whole locker fiasco.

Johnny’s hoping that tonight’s surprise, lightweight and fun, will help dissipate the lingering tension floating around the house. He’s ordered sushi to help unwind Daniel and it seems to be working.

Johnny will never understand the pleasure of eating raw fish on sticky rice, but Daniel seems to be nearing Nirvana, swallowing any item he can reach, and Johnny can’t help but imagine him swallowing something else with a colorful tongue that will taste of candy.

Things seem to be better by the end of the dinner, both men trading silly jokes as they exchange small talk. Johnny insists on taking care of the table once they’ve finished, and Daniel takes up on his offer so he can have a long and deserved shower.

Once the table is cleared, Johnny rushes into the room so he can undress and put on the posing pouch.

He admires himself in the mirror for a moment before laying on their king sized bed and putting on the sexiest pose he can manage.

He starts caressing his own leg, building his confidence up, transporting himself to the eighties spring breaks, when he used to work as a waiter at the bars on the shore and every night would bring its fair share of sexual surprises.

He can hear Daniel’s out of the shower, brushing his teeth, and he decides to start building the right atmosphere.

“Hey, I had lunch with Amanda the other day. She said you two used to have some sexy times around Valentine’s Day.”

Johnny realizes how awkward the words are before they’re out in the open, but it’s already too late to stop his mouth from releasing them.

There’s a short silence filled with weirdness, but sushi has greatly improved Daniel’s mood and his talkative nature takes over.

“I enjoyed doing romantic stuff for Valentine’s Day when we were married, the kind of thing you’d make fun of.”

If only you knew LaRusso, thinks Johnny, if only you knew.

“Amanda was more into sex though. A decade ago or so she came into the bedroom with candy underwear on Valentine’s night.”

Daniel’s laugh can be heard from the bedroom and Johnny is reassured, this is the direction he wanted the conversation going into.

“Sounds fun.”

But then Daniel snorts, and dread starts to accumulate in Johnny’s belly.

“Yeah, it sounds fun, but it’s not. It was such a fucking mess. Candy irritates my mouth so after like, two rounds of candy rings, it was like eating a raw lemon. Plus, it didn’t matter how many times I would clean the bed sheets, I’d find pieces of melted candy into December, kind of like when you eat shit in my car and I can never get rid of it afterwards.”

Johnny can feel the color draining from his face and his cock trying to hide into his ass. Had Amanda pulled a prank on him?

“Was it a one time thing?”

“If only. She was so proud of herself I couldn’t bring myself to tell her I didn’t enjoy it that much, so she kept doing it. That’s one thing I didn’t miss once our marriage was over.”

Johnny is kind of frozen on the spot as he listen to Daniel walking into the bedroom so he does the only thing he can think of, he lunches himself to the floor, hiding the lower part of his body under the bed.

Daniel enters the bedroom drying his hair with a dark blue towel, a lighter blue one around his waist, when he spots Johnny on the floor.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Push ups. I’m doing push ups.”

He indeed starts doing push ups, thanking any god there is out there that there’s enough space between the mattress and the floor for him to do so.

Daniel eyes him carefully, incredulity and worry showing in his eyes.

“Why? I mean, why would you do push ups under the bed?”

“Why not! Every place is good for push ups. No wonder you never put on any muscle on that skinny body of yours, LaRusso.”

The slight provocation seems to work because Daniel rolls his eyes, snorting at Johnny’s words.

“Fine, suit yourself Schwarzenegger.”

Having a natural talent to torture him, even when he doesn’t intend to, Daniel ends up reading for two hours before turning off his lamp and laying on his belly to sleep, facing in the opposite direction from Johnny for the night.

Johnny lets his body drop to the floor, not feeling his arms anymore. It’s another thirty minutes before he can finally extract himself from under the bed and put on boxers. He ends up putting the posing pouch in the box it came in, throwing it somewhere in the back of their shared closet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you picture Johnny Lawrence in a candy posing pouch like the ones they sell on Amazon? I hope you did. Have a good day.


	8. The mother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny turns to Lucille for help, no one knows better than ma, right?

The thing with Daniel LaRusso is that he can take your ears off when he feels strongly about something. Whether it’s about his opinions on the government’s taxes, his passion about the Italian soccer selection or his childhood’s favorite dish, Daniel LaRusso doesn’t know when to shut up.

He’s never known to leave well enough alone. He’s an over excited, over achiever, over the top brat and he’s proud of it. That’s why Johnny knows everything there is to know about “ _Sfogliatelle_ ”, Daniel’s favorite food in the whole universe.

Contrary to popular belief, Johnny tries to be the best boyfriend he can be, so he has tried to make _Sfogliatelle_ before. Multiple times in fact.

Daniel always compliments him, smiles at him and makes sure to be extra passionate in their love making whenever he gets that particular treat and yet Johnny knows it’s not that good.

Daniel’s soul is permanently reflected in his doe eyes, giving away even the whitest of lies. Johnny knows his _Sfogliatelle_ are not bad, but he also knows he’s not bringing Naples into Daniel’s mouth with them.

He’s done a fair amount of research on the matter. Theoretically, he knows everything there is to be known about those shell-shaped filled pastries. He can even tell you they were created in the monastery of Santa Rosa, in the province of Salerno, even though he’s never set foot outside of the USA.

Johnny knows he needs to stretch out the dough on a large table, brush it with butter and roll it into a log. He knows the end result must have many layers, which is the biggest difficulty of the recipe. He then has to cut disks, shape them to form pockets and fill them in order to bake them.

He even knows that, out of all the possible fillings, Daniel enjoys almond paste and ricotta the most, so that’s what he gets. Honestly, _Sfogliatelle_ may be the subject Johnny knows best apart from karate and yet, there’s something he’s missing.

He’s tried asking Amanda, but she had shrugged at him, rolling her eyes.

“ _Do you think I had the time to cook Italian specialties while building an empire and raising two kids?”_

“ _Daniel was the one to cook, wasn’t he?”_

“ _Of course he was, Johnny, he’s so much better at it than I am. He even enjoys it, the weirdo”_

He’s watched YouTube videos. He’s read books about Italian food in the library. He’s had Miguel looking up for recipes on the Internet. Nothing had worked.

He’s reading new ones to make sure this surprise goes straight to Daniel’s stomach when Robby, who’s doing algebra homework next to him, has a revelation.

“Why don’t you ask Lucille? She must have been the one to cook them, she could give you the exact recipe.”

At first, joy fills Johnny. He can already picture Daniel’s face lightening up at the first bite, forgetting every mistake Johnny may have made over the years. But then he actually realizes what Robby just said then proceeds to drop his head on the table.

“What’s wrong? It’s a great idea.”

“Robby, you want me to phone Lucille LaRusso to ask her for a recipe.”

Robby nods at him like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

“Robby, do you know what’s the last image that woman has of me? I’ll tell you. It’s me sweeping her only son’s already injured leg at a karate tournament.”

“That was decades ago. Plus, she knows you’re dating her son nowadays. Hell, she knows you’re living with him, dad.”

Johnny ignores the little flutter in his heart upon hearing Robby’s “dad” to not lose his train of thought.

“She was told by phone. I’m pretty sure the day she meets me in person she’ll punch me for bullying her son.”

“Oh, so you finally admit to the bullying, huh?”

“Shut up! You put Miguel in the hospital.”

Robby’s face instantly shut off and Johnny kicks himself.

“Too soon?”

“It will be forever too soon for that.”

“Okay, I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean anything by it. Robby, just...”

“It’s fine. I get it.”

He does, and he forgives Johnny because he knows how hard it still is for him to reconcile what he did to Mr. LaRusso back then with how much he loves him now.

“Look, I understand Lucille may harbor some hard feelings against you, but she’s a nice lady. Plus, she loves her son, she’ll give you the recipe if it’s to make him happy.”

Then an idea goes off in Johnny’s head.

“She likes you, doesn’t she? I bet she adopted you instantly as one more grandchildren.”

“What can I say, I am very likable when I want to be.”

“You could call her to ask.”

Johnny smiles at Robby who arches his left eyebrow at him.

“I’ll give you whatever you want. You’ll drive soon, I could get you a car.”

Robby snorts.

“Mr. LaRusso has a dealership, I’m pretty sure he’ll get me a car if I ask.”

Johnny groans, fucking LaRussos.

“I’ll give you anything. Name it and you got it.”

“As tempting as that offer is, I’d rather you do this on your own, like the adult you’re supposed to be.”

Robby gathers his things to put them in his school bag and get ready for dinner.

“Plus, that will teach you to not make insensitive jokes to people you need favors from.”

He smirks as he gets up, and he’s never looked more like Johnny’s son.

“Hey, I thought you Said you forgave me!”

“Oh, I did dad. Always forgive, but never forget. Lucille’s number is on the fridge!”

Once he gets out of the dojo the next day, having emptied himself on the mat, he sits in his car and calls Daniel’s mother as one would go into war.

She picks up on the fourth tone, her resolute voice frozing Johnny on his leather seat.

“Who is this?”

“Excuse me? Who is this? Is this a prank?”

For god’s sake, what is it with LaRussos thinking he’s pranking them all the time.

“No! No, it’s not a prank. Sorry. It’s Johnny, Johnny Lawrence, your husband’s partner.”

There’s silence for a few seconds and Johnny feels almost proud to be able to shut up one more LaRusso.

“What do you want, Mr. Lawrence?”

Second name basis. That’s not a good sign.

“I was actually calling about a recipe.”

“Oh, so you’ll call for a recipe but you’ll let my son phone me on his own to announce you moving in with him.”

“I… I...”

“You left my son on his own when it was about explaining how, after a long marriage and two beautiful kids, he ended up dating the man who bullied him in High School putting his life in danger on several occasions.”

“Okay, now that’s an exaggeration Mrs. LaRusso.”

“QUIET!”

It’s the first time in decades he’s been on the receiving end of that order instead of being the one to utter him and it throws him off guard. He shuts up instantly.

“Mr. Lawrence, I can’t begin to explain how mortified I was when Daniel told me you were together.”

That’s a punch to the gut and Johnny tried to take it like a man.

“I get it. I would have felt the same if I were you.”

“This being said, my son seems to fancy you enough to confront his own mother. He’s done so only once before."

“And how did that turn out?”

“He married her.”

Ow.

“I know no amount of words is going to change what I put Daniel through during High School but, for what it’s worth, I’ve paid. Life hasn’t been very king to me for the most part.”

“There are not bad students, only bad teachers. That’s what Mr. Miyagi used to say. I’ll take your word, Mr. Lawrence.”

They’re still far from sitting around dinner together, happily chatting away, but Johnny will take this for now.

“So, about that recipe you wanted.”

The conversation flows pretty easily from that point on, Lucille confessing the secret to the _Sfogliatelle_ of Daniel’s childhood being the filling. She gives him the name of an Italian cheese, the best there is she is, and they end up hanging the phone with promises of further talks.

Johnny cooks happily the next day, singing some classic rock songs that never get out of fashion. He’s so proud to have cracked the code that he can’t wait for Daniel to finally eat the goddamn _Sfogliatelle._

He’s proud enough to make sure Robby is sitting at the table with them, and even invites Samantha and Anthony over. He lays the tray on the table and smirks.

“I think this is my best work to the date.”

Robby smiles at him, complicity in his eyes, and Daniel swats at Anthony’s hand, reminding him one does not start eating until everybody is served.

They each take one pastry, but Johnny’s eyes are fixated on Daniel, awaiting expectantly that distinct happiness that appears in his eyes whenever he talks about the stupid dish.

But that never happens. What happens is people around the table spitting out the pastry while Daniel has to excuse himself to the bathroom in order to vomit.

Robby makes a grimace at him.

“Did you call Lucille?”

“Of course I did! This is her recipe!”

Sam shakes her head, still shaking in disgust.

“I can guarantee you it’s not.”

“Come on, it’s not that bad, just strong.”

Anthony munches at the pastry with ease, his stomach ready to take on a nuclear war if needed. Daniel comes back and sits on his chair, white as a sheet. Johnny draws soothing circles on his back.

“What the hell did you put in those?”

“A cheese. I can’t really recall the name. Casu something?"

“Casu Mazu?”

“Yeah! That’s the thing!”

Sam runs to the bathroom as soon as she hears the words.

“God, Johnny, why would you do that?”

Daniel swats at Anthony’s hand when the kid is trying to bring another pastry to his mouth.

“For god’s sake Antonio, stop that!”

“What’s happening?”

Daniel lets out a long sigh, then turns back to Johnny.

“That’s an extremely strong cheese, one that teems with maggots.”

Robby is the one running to the bathroom then while Anthony still sits there, unfazed by the whole situation.

“What?”

“It’s putrid cheese, Johnny.”

“Then what the fuck is it sold? Why do people eat it?”

Daniel shrugs as he drinks a glass of water.

“It’s technically illegal, ‘cause it can be dangerous, but it’s tradition in Sardinia and people still make it. Some think it’s a delicacy. I’m not one of those people. Where did you get the idea from?”

Johnny knows better than to rattle on his partner’s mother so he sucks it up like a man.

“A book I found on the internet.”

“Well, burn it.”

He calls Lucille the next day. He can literally hear the smugness emanating of her.

“I take it you’re calling to thank me for the success my recipe has brought you? Sam has already given me every detail.”

Of course she has.

“So you did it on purpose.”

Lucille scoffs on the other line.

“Of course I did it on purpose Mr. Lawrence! Who do you take me for? A senile lady who’s lost her head?”

“Oh, I have a lot of thoughts about you at this moment, but that one is certainly not among them.”

“Good, it would be shame for you not to understand who you’re dealing with.”

What the fuck. In which family had he gotten into? Had LaRusso ties with the Mafia Johnny didn’t know about? Would he end up missing old stupid Sid?

“I understand, Lucille.”

“Mr. Lawrence, Daniel is my only son. It’s been over forty years since I lost his father, and Daniel is the best reminder I’ve got of him and our love.”

That sobers up Johnny as quickly as a call from his landlord used to some years ago.

“I understand.”

“I want what’s best for him. I may not have been as present as I should have, but I am now.”

Johnny had never thought, during all those years, that Lucille may have felt guilty about the long hours she’d spent working to support Daniel.

She must had been guilty about not being there when her son was being bullied, or in a death match, or under Silver’s spell.

It occurs to Johnny she must not know half of it. You didn’t go to your mama when you had a problem in the eighties.

“Don’t let my prank fool you, Mr. Lawrence. I kinda like you.”

“You do?”

“My son was married to Amanda for over twenty years and she never phoned me to ask for a recipe for my son.”

The idea of someone preferring him over Amanda as a partner for their child is so ludicrous that Johnny can’t really wrap his head about it, but he still can enjoy it.

“Don’t get me wrong, she’s a strong woman and a good mother. I respect her, but I never though she was right for my Daniel.”

Johnny snorts, like she would ever think someone was good enough for her Daniel.

“You may be closer to right.”

Ow. Closer is good. Closer is great.

“I’ve emailed Sam the real recipe this morning. I told her to pass it to you. I hope we’ll see each other soon, Mr. Lawrence. It’s been a long time.”

A long time indeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That cheese is actually a real thing xD


	9. The Pets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another surprise for Daniel

As soon as he sees a pet, Daniel starts cooing at it. It doesn’t matter if they’re on the street, in the middle of a conversation, or watching TV. Daniel’s reaction is always the exact same.

His eyes, oversized by nature, get even bigger and they start shining bright. The dark brown of his orbs turns lighter, almost honey like, and his mouth turns into a soft smile.

Johnny wants to hate it, but it’s the most adorable thing he’s ever seen. It makes his brain soft, so he starts putting on more animal stuff on TV when they’re together, just so he can hear Daniel cooing at the beasts.

“How come you never had a pet?”

He asks the question some afternoon in January while they’re watching a documentary about the secret lives of dogs.

Daniel turns towards him, sadness in his eyes, and Johnny swears at the moment he’s 8 at most.

“My ma wouldn’t let me, she said the apartment we leaved in was too small. Once I started working I didn’t have time to take care of a pet, I juggled three jobs for a good while. When we had the kids I wanted to get one, but Amanda refused, saying it was too much hassle. What about you?”

Johnny snorts at that, shaking his head.

“I’ve been unable to take care of myself for most of my life, LaRusso. I had a son, look how that turned out.”

They keep on watching the telly and the conversations goes away, as most do, but it stays in a corner of Johnny’s brain, awaiting the right moment to arise.

The right moment comes sooner than expected. It’s friday morning, and Johnny is doing his usual jogging through the park.

He’s still missing a surprise for his Valentine's week. He’s racking his brain for an idea when his eyes stop somewhere on his left side.

There, on a patch of grass, are various animals, mostly cats and dogs. Some are running and yapping happily around, while others are in cages.

There’s two people talking animatedly to a couple of families. There’s a banner over them that reads “Adoption festival”. Johnny stops running, sitting on a nearby bench, watching the scene carefully.

There’s a little girl in a pale blue dress holding a puppy in her arms. It’s a Labrador puppy, Johnny realizes, and he’s about to get lucky because a man in his forties, the little girl’s father Johnny guesses, is nodding at her.

He’s seen talking to the volunteers for a while, and he’s filling forms now. The little girl and the dog play together, their youth manifesting in their excitement, and Johnny can’t help but imagine little Daniel in the girl’s shoes.

The girl’s dad ends up signing the forms and hands the volunteers some cash. The little family walks away with a new member, and Johnny can’t help the smile that find its way to his lips.

The families come and go, some of them with an animal in their arms, and the event is obviously being a success. Johnny decides to finish his jog and comes back later.

By the time he does so, most animals are gone. He goes over there, observing the ones that are still waiting for their change. There’s a one year old dog, with light brown shiny fur, with whom Johnny instantly falls in love, but he’s spoken for, as a sticker on his cage states.

He smiles at the lucky dog and his eyes keep on wandering until they fall on a cat. It’s black with emerald eyes, almost like a miniature panther. That makes Johnny thinks of bonsais, miniature trees.

The cat is not happy to see him, hissing angrily at him. There’s a red sticker in the right corner of his cage with a date on it, a date that’s one week from today.

“Hey, excuse me Lady, what’s up with the date?”

The lady, a woman in her late thirties who wears a stylish long skirt, smiles at him until she hears the question.

“Sadly, it’s the date she’ll be put down if she doesn’t get an adoption by then. The shelter tries to be no kill, but some cases seem impossible, and we need the space to save more animals. There’s not much money."

To be put down, what a shitty euphemism for killing an innocent being who didn’t ask to be in this fucked up world anymore.

“Why is her case impossible?”

“She’s feral. She doesn’t like people. She doesn’t let herself be pet. She doesn’t give any love whatsoever.”

“She’s just scared.”

“I know, but who wants a five year old cat who hisses at you when you try to touch her?”

Johnny knows it’s not the woman’s fault, but her words don’t sit will with Johnny. So what if the cat was a little bit broken? She probably had reasons to no trust humans. He didn’t trust most of them either.

“Would she be unhappy in a home?”

“She’d need a garden, somewhere she can go to whenever she’s hungry, cold or just wants to be safe. She’d need space and humans who understand she’s not to be touched. It’s almost an impossible fit.”

Johnny hums, the gears turning in his head. They had a garden she could come to whenever she wanted. They could feed her, offer some shelter for when it rains or it’s too cold outside.

So maybe a feral cat who won’t be touched isn’t exactly the pet Daniel is been dreaming about, but every being deserves a chance, right? If johnny had deserved his, then that cat certainly did too.

He’s about to open his big mouth when something barks at his feet. It’s a big dog trying to get Johnny’s attention. His fur is like a triple chocolate ice cream, dark brown, light blown and white. He keeps on barking, looking at Johnny like he’s telling him something extremely important.

“What’s his story?” He asks the lady.

“Oh, this is Kobo. He’s a great dog, super friendly, but he’s been waiting for a long time.”

“What do you mean?”

“He was brought into the shelter when he was two months old, he’s eight years old now, almost nine.”

Johnny’s head almost explodes at that information. Nine years behind bars? What had this dog done? Rob a bank?”

“Why?”

“The older a dog gets, the harder it is to get him an adoption. Plus, Kobo comes with a bit of a handicap.”

That’s when Johnny sees the dog is standing on three legs, one of his front paws having been cut at the knee.

“What happened to him?”

“He was run down by a car when he was a puppy, that’s why his family brought him into the shelter. They didn’t want a three dog leg.”

Johnny scoffs at the word “family”. He may not be an expert on the matter, but he knows enough to know he would never ditch his family that easily.

The dog keeps barking at him, moving his little tail, and for some reason it reminds him of LaRusso.

“He seems to like you. You know, some people say you don’t chose a pet. They choose you.”

The lady leaves after dropping the bomb and Johnny is confronted with the reality of a feral cat they’ll kill if no one takes her and an old three legged dog who has chosen him.

He knows he shouldn’t do it, not before talking it through with Daniel, but he’s working under pressure. Who will if he doesn’t? Plus, Robby and Sam would soon walk into the sun, building their own lives, leaving their folks behind.

These may not be Daniel’s dream pets, but he’ll love them just the same. Johnny’s sure of it. At least that’s what he tells himself as he signs the forms, telling the volunteers he’ll go take his car to pick up the animals. They look at him with awe on their faces. One of them, a young girl, is crying.  
  
“You’re an angel”, she says, and he wants to laugh in her face because Johnny is so much closer to being a feral cat than an angel.

Once he’s got the animals in the car, Kobo happily barking at him and the cat hissing louder with every passing minute, he goes to pick up Miguel who yells excitedly once he finds out.

“This has to be the best surprise ever.”

“Yeah, who wouldn’t dream of a hissing cat and a senior dog citizen with three good paws?”

“What do you need me for?”

“Shopping. I’ve never owned a pet, but I suppose they need things.”

“Sure, come on! I don’t own a pet, but I know everything there is to know!”

“Of course you do.”

Kobo barks, agreeing with Johnny. Good boy, he thinks, good boy.

By the time he gets back home, it’s late, past dinner time, and he’s got a couple of calls from Daniel he hasn’t answered to.

Robby is away at Shannon’s, who’s into the next step of her rehab’s program which involves her own place, and Daniel is waiting for him, sitting at the table.

“Where were you? You could at least answer your phone, Lawrence. I get worried.”

Johnny smiles at him, because having someone worried about him for missing dinner still does weird and warm things to his heart.

“I’ve got a surprise for you, but you may not like it.”

“Okay, you’re scaring me. I’m getting an awful lot of surprises lately.”

Yeah, and if I had succeeded in any of them you’d have realized by now we’re doing Valentine’s week, but I haven’t, thinks Johnny as he signals for Daniel to follow him into the garden.

There lies Kobo, barking, and next to him is the cage with the hissing cat inside. There’s still the red sticker on it.

Before Daniel can say anything, Kobo jumps at him, licking his whole face in one motion, and Johnny smiles.

Daniel is instantly cooing at him and Johnny knows, he knows he won’t give a fuck about his age or how many paws he’s gotten.

Once the dog has calmed down, Daniel gently petting his head, Johnny starts talking.

“That’s our new dog, Kobo, and this is our new cat. She doesn’t have a name. She hates people. She won’t let anyone come near her and she’s hissing all the damn time, but they were going to kill her in a week, and I couldn’t let that happen, you know? Being scared shouldn’t get you murdered.”

Daniel looks at him, his mouth open, trying to make sense of everything Johnny said. He then looks at the hissing black cat, cooing at her. Of course LaRusso would coo at a cat who hates him, of course he would.

He then looks at Kobo, realizing the white hairs on his front, giving out his age, and his paw cut up at the knee. Daniel swallows, his hand going to scratch Kobo’s belly.

“No one wanted them, huh?”

Johnny shrugs.

“Apparently everyone wants you when you’re a shiny loving pup, but there’s not so many candidates once life has roughened you up a little bit.”

Daniel looks at him, tenderness and understanding etched in every one of his features, and Johnny is reminded of the reason he loves this man so much.

Daniel may be short tempered, bratty and a bit too talkative for comfort, but he’s so stupidly kind it hurts. He scratches Kobo’s head one last time before getting up and walking to Johnny, hugging his waist.

“Well, they just found the right people then.”

“So we’re keeping them?”

Daniel scoffs at him, indignation coming from his body in waves.

“Of course we are! They’re not toys, Johnny. If you get them, you get them for life!”

Johnny smiles, bringing his arms around Daniel’s back, contemplating their little dysfunctional family.

“She needs a name.”

“Come on Daniel, she’ll just come to eat and stuff, and she won’t let you come near her.”

“I don’t care, she’s our cat now, she needs a name.”

Johnny sighs into Daniel’s shoulder, almost regretting his decision.

“Then you give her one, princess.”

“Princess! That’s it, I like it.”

Johnny starts to unload the car as Daniel keeps listing all the stuff they still need to buy and the visits to the vet they need to make. Johnny turns him off but he’s happy about how excited Daniel actually is.

Later that night, they let Kobo in. Johnny tries to argue they should leave the dog outside, but Daniel won’t have any of it, behaving like the child who dreamed about having dogs. They give him water and food, and some toys Kobo plays with as if he were a pup.

Kobo is on the couch before the night ends, happily moving his tail. Johnny doesn’t complain further. That dog has been waiting for damn nine years, he deserves the fucking couch.

They leave food and water for Princess, and make sure she can’t escape the garden from now. She needs to recognize it as home before going away on patrols so she knows when to come back. They also install an isolated cat house that will protect her from the cold.

They open her cage afterwards and she goes hiding in the bushes as fast as she can, but Daniel doesn’t mind and Johnny is happy to take the sticker from the cage and drop it in the bin, where it belongs.

That night, as Daniel snuggles into him and they can hear Kobo bark in the living room from time to time, Johnny is happy to have finally succeeded with one of his surprises. Kind of.


	10. The dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny takes Daniel to a fancy place to have a lovely dinner. Well, that's his intention at least.

Johnny used to go to fancy restaurants on a weekly basis when he was younger. Every Sunday his mother would dress him like a penguin, bow tie included, and drag him to Beverly Hills to some overpriced place people went to be seen rather than to eat.

Sid would eye him with anger most of the time, wishing he wasn’t there, an obstacle between him and his beautiful wife. Johnny would roll his eyes, bored out of his mind, thinking about the burgers and fries he could be having with the guys in front of the dojo. Laura would smile brightly at both, ignoring their attitude, trying to perfect the image of a happy little family.

“Fake it until you make it”, they say, and that’s what Laura did, only they never made it.

Johnny had hated every single one of those brunches until his mother had died. Once she was gone, he had missed everything, even those Sundays that had seemed endless back then.

Once he was on his own, Johnny had ditched fancy restaurants all together. He couldn’t afford them when putting food in the fridge and a roof over his head was already a struggle. Then Robby had come along, demanding to be fed, clothed, and loved. Johnny had at least managed to do two of those things.

It didn’t matter though. He hadn’t missed fancy restaurants. He had missed the privilege, but not the role he would have to play in a world he wasn’t born into and didn’t belong to. His idea of a celebratory dinner nowadays is pizza with the kids after a good training, a general fight, or a tournament well managed. His idea of a lovely dinner is Daniel’s homecooked food on the table after a long day of work.

Johnny is on a mission to be the perfect Valentine though, and he wants to surprise Daniel. He wants to woo him, even if he already shares his bed every night. He knows Daniel is used to fancy restaurants. Amanda has told him of all the places he would take her. Daniel is a social person, he basks in other’s people presence, he enjoys public outings, reminding Johnny of Laura in that way.

Daniel never talks about the places he used to go to before Johnny though. The brunette had tried to take him out to the Country Club and places like that a couple of times, but Johnny had always found a way out, not wanting to have a sugar daddy at fifty years old. He knew it was a stupid way of thinking, but he couldn’t help it. Johnny knows Daniel is no Sid, not even close on his worst day, but Johnny had sworn he would never again let himself be bought.

Life was an ironic bitch.

Once upon a time, when he used to frequent fancy restaurants, Daniel was poor as a rat. Then the roles had reversed themselves, which seems to be a constant in their lives.

Johnny wants to give Daniel the full experience: fancy place, candles, waiters dressed better than most people on their wedding days, yadda yadda.

He’s putting part of his savings into this. He’s found out what Daniel’s favourite place is thanks to Sam, and he owns Amanda a favour for getting him a table on such a short notice at a place that’s always packed. He’s not going to dress like a penguin, but he will dress nice enough: black pants, white shirt, and a bright blue jacket because Daniel always tells him how much he likes blue on him.

He’ll wait for Daniel to arrive home on Friday afternoon, tell him to take a shower to relax and put on something nice because he’s taking him somewhere. Then he will tie Daniel’s hatchimaki around his eyes, take him to the car and inside the restaurant, escorting him to a nice table from where they’ll be able to watch the beach where they once met. Sure, they had fought back then, but fighting was kind of their love language anyway.

It’s going to be nothing like those Sundays used to. It’s going to be perfect.

It’s not perfect at all. Nothing in Johnny’s life ever is, he should know that by now.

Friday afternoon arrives, but Daniel doesn’t. The possibility of Daniel being late had not even crossed Johnny’s mind because that man was born with a watch on his wristband. He’s a responsible business owner and father of two children. He calls Johnny whenever he’s two minutes late, worried out of his mind for the blonde.

And yet Daniel is late. He’s late because Anthony gets into a fight at school. Something about an eleven years old jackass calling Daniel a fag and Anthony, being a LaRusso and all, throwing a punch in.

Daniel is angry when he comes home, feeling guilty, and the last thing he wants to do is going out for dinner. Johnny insists though because he’s got reservations and he’s not ready to spend the night dealing with Daniel’s crisis about his bisexuality and the effect it may have on his children. That’s not how the night was supposed to go.

Daniel snaps at him a couple of times, but he rectifies as soon as he does, and Johnny lets it go. He doesn’t have the time to shower, relax or change though, getting into the car into the same clothes he’d wore when he had gone out ten hours earlier.

They’re late, which leads them to lose the original table Johnny had booked. They end up eating in the middle of the restaurant, everyone passing them by to get in or out. Daniel doesn’t even look at the menu that much, knowing what he wants beforehand.

“Why don’t you choose for both of us?”

Daniel looks at him with curiosity and a smile. He’s a control freak, they both know it, so Johnny likes to relinquish control sometimes, in and out of the bedroom, because it makes Daniel happy and he doesn’t mind that much.

“Gladly.”

A young waiter, who looks more like a well put together penguin, comes to get their order. Daniel asks for some appetizers, an ossobuco for Johnny and something with a French name for himself. The small talk comes easily, and the night finally starts to go smoothly. Johnny tells Daniel about his classes and how much he’s enjoying them while Daniel tells him about Sam’s college applications.

“Don’t you miss having your own dojo? It maybe time to try again, don’t you think?”

Johnny shrugs at him.

“I’m not too sure about that. The Topanga Dojo is fine for now.”

Daniel nods, but there’s a glint in his eye Johnny knows well, the glint that says “This conversation is not over. Not by a long shot.”

The light is dim, the food is delicious, and no one is proposing around them, cause Valentine’s day is not until tomorrow, which is nice. Daniel looks happy and Johnny feels like he can breathe for the first time in the week, until a man stops at their table, his voice loud and irritating.

“Daniel LaRusso! What a surprise! I haven’t seen you here since your divorce.”

The last word is pronounced with nauseating satisfaction and Johnny feels the need to deal with this asshole the only way he knows how, through his fists.

That doesn’t seem to be Daniel’s plan though, because his partner only offers a tight smile while nodding at the man.

“What a surprise indeed, Tom, an extremely unpleasant one.”

When he was a teenager, Johnny used to be fascinated by how rich people would smile at each other while saying the most hurting stuff they could manage. It turns out he’s still fascinated today.

“I hope so”, says the older man, and then he turns to Johnny.

“What have we got here? Is this the new Mrs. LaRusso?”

Johnny wants to retaliate, but he remains frozen to his seat, shame pooling low in his stomach. Daniel bites his lip hard and Johnny wonders, for a moment, if it will be enough to draw blood.

“I’d rather you let him out of this, Cole.”

“But why Danny, are you ashamed? He’s pretty enough.”

Johnny has been objectified before. He’s not a woman, never has, but he’s been a pretty blond with a tan and muscular body in California for a long time. He had done some modelling stuff when he was younger so he could pay the rent. He’s never felt this downgraded though.

Daniel looks at him, gets up and bites his lip once more before looking straight into Cole’s eyes. There will be blood now.

“That’s none of your business.”

“Is he going to be the theme of your dealership’s next advertising campaign? Fags selling to fags?”

The man is still smiling, and Daniel laughs at him. Seen from afar, the conversation must look like a pleasant exchange between old friends. It’s something else entirely though, it’s a confrontation between sharks. Johnny feels like a little and insignificant blue fish, the one named Nemo Miguel used to love when he was little.

“I’d rather be a fag selling to fags than an unfaithful asshole selling to others like him.”

Daniel signals towards his left and Johnny’s eyes follow. They find a woman who must be, at most, in her mid-thirties. She’s wearing a tight pink dress that hugs her body in all the right places, high heels, a heart shaped bag, and the whitest smile. She’s got blue eyes and golden locks cascading down her back. She seems happy to be there, not realizing she stands out like a sore thumb. She reminds Johnny of his mother.

“It’s funny Cole, I don’t remember your wife being that young, nor that blonde. I bet she’s at home, believing you’re at some business dinner, preparing for Valentine’s Day, isn’t she? Maybe we should call her.”

Cole stops smiling then, but Johnny can’t pay attention because he’s focusing on the young woman who’s now watching him back, a question mark on her face. She must be used to having men’s attention on her, but there’s nothing lascivious about Johnny’s gaze and she doesn’t have as much experience in that field. Johnny wants to say something, he wants to tell her to run away, he wants her to know she’s still got time. He’ll never leave his wife, is what he wants to say, and even if he does, he’s a fucking asshole who’ll make your life miserable. Believe me, I know. I’ve seen it all before.

He says nothing though.

“Careful, LaRusso.”

“No, you be careful Cole. In case you haven’t noticed yet, I’m not afraid of you. I’ve dealt with people much more powerful and dangerous than you. You’re just a rich bastard. I know how to deal with people of your kind, you’re not winning.”

Johnny realizes he does; Daniel really knows how to deal with douchebags like Cole nowadays. Johnny wonders if this is what he would have felt if someone had stood up to Sid in 1980.

“It’s not over.”

Cole wants to be threatening, but Daniel is still laughing, for real now. He’s won that round. Maybe Johnny should tell Cole that LaRusso always ends up winning anyway, because he never stays down for long, and save him the trouble.

“It never is.”

Cole leaves then, and the girl follows with a signal of his hand. Daniel eyes her with sympathy and Johnny wonders if she’s got her head filled with Hollywood images, an empty bank account, a young boy who needs to be fed waiting for her at home of all of the above.

“I’m sorry about that asshole. Don’t mind him.”

Johnny wants to ask how he could do that, but he doesn’t. He starts eating again, swallowing rather than carefully savouring the expensive dish, his head filled with images he’s not sure he understands.

Their dinner continues, but there’s nothing romantic about it anymore. People keep coming to Daniel. Country Club’s friends mostly.

_“Hey Daniel!”_

_“Long time not to see.”_

_“How are you doing?”_

_“It’s great you and Amanda still work together.”_

Some of those people know Johnny, have known him for the most part of his life, and he can see the wonder in their eyes. Was divorce hard enough on Daniel to turn him gay? Was divorce hard enough on Daniel to push him into his old rival’s arms? Was divorce hard enough on Daniel to end up dating such a loser? It’s almost like they’re screaming in his face how much better Daniel could do if he tried.

He loses his appetite.

When the time for dessert comes, he shakes his head at the waitress, praying for Daniel to take a hint so they can go home. He does, asking for two pieces of the “Devil’s cake”, one of the restaurant’s speciality, for them to take home. Daniel doesn’t try to pay, and Johnny is grateful for it.

Once they get home Johnny goes straight into the shower, ignoring Kobo’s happy tail and barking and leaving it to Daniel to scratch his belly.

He rubs soap on his skin with strength trying to wash away, not only that awful night he’s put way too much money in, but the whole fucking week.

Daniel is not in the room by the time Johnny comes out of the shower, so he throws on some old boxers and hops into bed so he can feign to be asleep and avoid a shameful conversation.

He feels the bed dipping next to him and can sense Daniel’s body, sat on top of it, exhaling deeply.

“I don’t even like the Country club, you know?”

Johnny doesn’t move. He knows Daniel knows he’s awake, so what? He’s been running from problems his whole life; he can run a little longer.

“I’ve never felt like I belonged, always scared to say the wrong thing or to laugh when I’m not supposed to. The amount of money in my bank account never seems to be enough for me to forget that kid from Reseda on the Country Club’s floor, with spaghetti on his head.”

Johnny winces at that, guilt knocking on his door, and turns around, fixating his eyes on the ceiling.

“Then why do you go?”

Daniel snorts and shrugs his shoulders, still not facing Johnny.

“Status, I guess.”

His laugh is self-deprecating as he says those words and Johnny’s heart hurts for him.

“There’s nothing wrong in wanting to be with those that are like you.”

“They’re not like me though, Johnny, are they? Most of them were born into money. Hell, most of them attended Middle School with you while I was somewhere in New Jersey, eating leftovers from some aunt because my mother didn’t have enough to buy food at the end of the month.”

“I used to feel like that too, back in the day.”

Daniel turns around then, sitting on the bed so he can face Johnny.

“I never got that impression.”

“You know what they say, fake it until you make it.”

Daniel nods and lays a hand on Johnny’s chest.

“I don’t care about what those people think, and I don’t miss the fancy places I used to go either.”

“Come on Daniel, stop bullshitting me.”

“I’m not lying Lawrence. Have I enjoyed leading the life of a wealthy bastard? Sure, I have. Do I miss it? Not really. I like living here, at Mr. Miyagi’s place, and I like getting pizza from the store that’s two streets away with you on Fridays. I love spending Saturdays going to some bar you know by heart, but I ‘ve never been too, and I absolutely adore to spend my Sundays on the couch, watching whatever we find on Netflix.”

“Don’t get sappy on me, LaRusso.”

Johnny has a reputation to uphold, but his heart is a bastard, his rhythm betraying the truth under Daniel’s warm hand.

“We’re everything I never knew I wanted. I don’t care if it’s sappy, it’s the truth.”

Johnny pulls Daniel next to him and cuddles him properly.

“I’m never dressing up again, at least not unless it’s some of the kid’s wedding or something.”

He can feel Daniel’s laugh rather than hear it.

“Good, I find leather jackets to be a better option on you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I'm late, I devoted yesterday to catching a stray some neighbours were threatening to kill. People are so freaking nice, aren't they?


	11. Not a surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny chooses to give up.

Robbie comes at nightfall, when Johnny is sitting in the garden, contemplating the pond.

“Hey dad! Look what I’ve got!”

He throws a little box in the air, grasping it back with grace once it starts falling back down. He sits next to Johnny, handling him the box while looking sheepish. Johnny looks at him and smirks, they do share the same DNA after all.

“You opened it, didn’t you?”

Robby had the decency to try to look guilty, but his smile ended up coming through.

“I had to.”

Johnny nods, then snorts, inspecting the little box in his hands.

“How is it?”

“I think you’ll be happy with it. I think it suits him.”

The box is turquoise blue, suited to California, and nakedly elegant. There is a simple ribbon, light blue, on top of it. Johnny undoes it carefully then open the little square to find what he’s been waiting for weeks now.

“I thought it wouldn’t arrive on time.”

“So did I, but Moon called me about an hour ago. What do you think?”

It’s a hammered wedding ring that combines brushed silver tungsten with a blue offset wood inlay. Johnny can imagine the silver tungsten shimmering in the sunlight. It’s rugged, yet elegant. It’s bold, yet delicate. Robbie is right, it suits Daniel.

“I think it’s beautiful.”

It’s nothing like the ring Sid had proposed to Laura with all those years ago. That one had been an exuberant 18 carat white gold ring with sapphire, the same colour of Laura’s eyes, and diamonds. The sapphire had been at the centre while the diamonds had crowded around it. Johnny had pawned it in his early forties, needing the cash to pay Shannon’s child support. Johnny like this one better, the lotus engraved on the inside being his favourite part.

“Did you ever give mom one of those?”

Robbie’s question surprises him, and Johnny takes a few seconds to search his memory.

“I did actually, I gave her one when she discovered she was pregnant with you. It was a tapered band with a solitaire. We never actually married though; it would have been a disaster.”

Robbie nods, lucid enough to recognize that much.

“I don’t think it will with Mr. L.”

Johnny sighs then, closing the box and putting it in his back pocket.

“I’m not giving it to him.”

Robbie looks at him, mouth open, for a solid minute.

“Why the hell not?”

Johnny shrugs, rolling his eyes.

“I’ve been trying to celebrate Valentine’s Day by giving him a surprise every day of the week. Go ahead, laugh at me.”

“Why would I do that? I think it’s cool you’re in love and you want to show it.”

Johnny remembers then his kid hadn’t grown up in the eighties.

“It was a disaster.”

“So what?”

Johnny snorts at him and lays back on the porch, trying to catch a star or two.

“I’ve never told you about the time I lived in the LaRusso household.”

Johnny shifts slightly.

“I was afraid it would make you uncomfortable.”

He’ll never understand how Shannon and himself, who had never been anything but egoistical jerks, had managed to create such a gentle soul, gentle enough to worry about people who’ve done him so dirty.

“That’s my problem, not yours.”

“It was like a dream. I went from an empty fridge to a full one, from wondering if my mother would even come home to know exactly at which time both LaRussos would arrive. Everything was clean and smelled good. It was amazing, and so nerve wracking at the same time.”

Robbie stops talking, looking into the distance, and Johnny gives him the time he needs for once.

“I was so afraid all the time. I felt like a kid in an expensive store, too scared to touch anything to play. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. I get it, dad.”

Johnny swallows, looking back at the sky.

Robbie snorts and shakes his head.

“Sure, of course you don’t.”

“I’m not a pussy.”

“Of course, you’re not, pussies eject children through them. You wouldn’t make it past menstruation cramps.”

Robbie lies down next to him, also looking at his stars, and he takes his hand, saying everything he needs to. If a tear rolls down Johnny’s cheek, well, there’s nobody to tell.


	12. The Proposal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Valentine's Day is here and it's Daniel's turn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentine's day to all of you lovely readers. Remember, it's about the love, not about having someone to date or not.

Johnny sleeps in on Valentine’s Day. It’s Sunday and he’s got nowhere to be. He rolls around in bed, his arms searching instinctively for Daniel’s form without success. 

He groans as he opens his eyes. LaRusso is rarely in bed when Johnny wakes up. He’s either up soon to go to the dealership or at the crack of dawn to do some stupid kata along the sunrise. 

On Sundays, however, he sleeps in to indulge Johnny. They cuddle, fool around a bit, make sweet love if they feel like it, then they get up to have something Daniel calls brunch. If you ask Johnny, it’s just eating breakfast and lunch at the same time, it doesn’t need some fancy fucking name. 

Daniel is not in bed though, and Johnny is already hating Valentine’s Day when the door to thr room opens. Daniel, dressed in a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt, hair disheveled, falling on his forehead, enters bringing a trail. 

He’s dressed like he used to be in High School and Johnny’s heart starts beating faster. Daniel smiles at him, dimples and all, and drops the trail on the bed. There’s pastries, bread, jam, bacon, scrambled eggs, fresh orange juice and everything Johnny could want.

There’s also a red rose in a vase, and Johnny recognizes the one he bought Daniel for the locker fiasco. 

Daniel closes the distance between them, kissing him tenderly on the lips, a quick sip of his tongue on them.

“Happy Valentine’s Day. Would you be my Valentine, Johnny Lawrence?”

God, it’s the cheesiest line Johnny’s ever heard and he wants to make fun of it so badly, but he just nods, taking Daniel’s face between his hands so he can kiss him again.

Kobo chooses that moment to get on the bed and steal the bacon from the tray of food, knocking the orange juice in the meantime. 

Johnny groans, but Daniel is laughing wholeheartedly, mirth dancing in his eyes. 

“I love that dog.”

“Of course you do, he’s as noisy as you are.”

Daniel claps his hands and looks at Johnny. 

“Okay, eat what’s left of your breakfast and pop into the shower. We’ve got plans.”

“Do we? But I want my bacon, LaRusso, bacon is my favorite.”

“You’re such a cry baby when you want to, there’s more bacon in the kitchen. We’re leaving at 4 pm sharp, Lawrence.” 

***

LaRusso takes him to Golf’n’Stuff and Johnny doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry. They're too old for this shit.

“This is going to be full of teenagers. It will be a nightmare.”

Daniel smirks at him.

“It’s going to be full of teenagers, but I made sure we won’t run into Miguel and Samantha or Robbie and Moon. Plus, this place is a monument to nostalgia. There’s also going to be a multitude of eighties couples.”

“We’re not an eighties couple, LaRusso.”

Daniel hops down the car and gives Johnny his best smile as he shuts his door.

“Are we not, Lawrence?”

Johnny groans before following Daniel, getting lost in the crowd.

They have fun. They play every game available, their competitive nature showing. They make stupid bets and even more stupid jokes and they laugh harder than they have in a while. Johnny ends up winning a giant Teddy Bear for Daniel, the girl holding the stand cooing at them.

“You get me the nicest plush toys, Johnny Lawrence.”

Daniel’s voice is dripping with sarcasm, but it’s a sweet one, not an ounce of malice in it.

“Only the best for the best around, babe.”

And they laugh their head off, remembering the times when they used to pull girls with those lines. Johnny wonders what would his eighteen years old self say if he could see them now, holding hands and sharing candy. He’d probably have a seizure. 

They end up at the mini golf, facing off like it's the Augusta's Master or something. When they get to hole nº5, Johnny smirks.

“This is the exact place where I kissed Ali for the first time.”

Daniel whistles at him as he aligns his body in relation to his target.

“Was it your first kiss?”

He aces it. Johnny snorts at him.

“Of course it wasn’t.”

It was and Daniel can see straight through his lie but he doesn’t say. Johnny’s lucky like that. 

“Were you ever attracted to a guy back then?”

Johnny frowns, thinking hard about the question, as he practices a baseball grip on the club and gets the ball to go through the little tunnel in front of them.

“I don’t think so. I mean, once the boys found out I could swing both ways they were all convinced I had a fat crush on Bobby, but I didn’t. I’ve always loved Bobby, but I’ve never wanted to kiss him or anything like that.”

Daniel nods as they walk towards the next hole. 

“I think I was attracted to you though.”

Daniel’s head shots up, because they’ve never talked about this before. They’ve come close, but they’ve never actually crossed the line.

“Yeah?”

Johnny shrugs, sheepishly. 

“I mean, I didn’t know back then. It wasn’t a conscious thing, but how would you explain everything otherwise? Whatever I felt towards you, it was way too intense to be only about an ex girlfriend, even if said ex girlfriend was the great Ali Mills.”

Daniel smirks at him, gripping Johnny’s ass as he walks by.

“What about you?”

“I’m not sure. I’ve ever been attracted to any man but you.”

Daniel says it so casually, like it’s not big deal, but Johnny's knees almost buckle out at the confession.

They end up the game with a tie. 16 strokes each, although if you ask any of them he'll gladly tell you everything about he other had cheated his way through the course and he's the only lawful winner of the whole thing.

They take a stroll then, buying ice cream, chocolate and vanilla so they can each lick a side of the cone until their tongues find each other in the middle. They shuffle around some more until Daniel checks his watch and drags Johnny back to the car.

“Are we in a hurry?”

“We have somewhere else to be.”

Daniel takes them to the drive through cinema Johnny and the cobras used to go to in High School. It was a sacred place for an eighties teenager. It gave you the privacy of a hotel room for a quarter of its price. 

“What are we watching?” 

“Top Gun is on in about 10 minutes.”  
“God, I love you LaRusso.”

“I know. I’m great like that.”

***

They stay to watch a couple more movies afterwards, Grease and The Breakfast Club, while they stuff their faces with popcorn and make out like horny teenagers who don’t have their own home with their own comfy bed in it to do as they please in the privacy of their shared room. 

It’s a great night overall, and Johnny snorts mentally at himself. Of course Daniel would be efortlessly good at Valentine's Day. Was there a better gift than to give them the date they never got to enjoy in the eighties? 

It's around 11 pm when they get home. They catch a glimpse of Princess when they arrive, running away as they come closer to the house. Kobo takes the exact opposite direction, running to their sides, lapping up the attention.

Daniel asks Johnny to wait for him in the garden while he gets something. He emerges out of the house a few minutes later, a blanket and a couple of beers in his hands. Once Daniel drops the blanket in the garden Johnny can see Daniel had been holding a folder underneath it.

"What's that?"

Daniel looks at him for a couple of seconds, doubt appearing in his shiny brown orbs, and he handles Johnny the folder.

"I don't understand. What's this?"

"It's a lease for a spot at the mall. I think it could be a good place to open a Karate dojo."

Johnny stares at him blankly, no words coming out of his mouth.

"You don't have to go through with it, I only payed a deposit and a month of rent, it's no big deal."

"Are you sure you want me to open a dojo again? Last time I did you freaked out pretty badly if I remember correctly."

"It wasn't against you, okay? It was against Cobra Kai and its fucked up values. We may not share the same outlook on Karate, Johnny, we probably never will, but I respect yours now. I know you're not Kreese nor Terry."

Johnny sighs, looking at the folder he's holding between his hands.

"What if I am though? Some things are difficult to shake, you know that LaRusso."

"You're not. You've learned your lesson. I trust you. If that's the only thing stopping you, I may have a solution."

Johnny's head shots up.  
"Do you?"

"I was thinking we could be buiseness partners. You'll give the classes and I'll help you with the management, I could come teach sometimes."

Johnny hums, a smile appearing on its face.

"We could keep each other on his toes."

Daniel smiles at him and Johnny doesn't blame Ali anymore. Who could survive that smile? Come on.

"Shit, how did you manage to turn a fucking lease into something romantic, LaRusso?"

Daniel shrugs and smirks, revealing the Jersey cocky punk he's always been.

"What can I say? I'm fucking awesome at this Valentine's thing."

He drops on the blanket then and Johnny follows, snuggling into him as much as he can 'cause Febrauary's air is cold and chilly even in California sometimes.

“I’m sorry.”

“What for? It’s was a great date! Probably better than any of the ones I had in the eighties.”

Daniel smiles and shakes his head.

“I’m sorry to not have realized you’ve been my Valentine all week long.”

Johnny looks at him then groans.

“Who do I have to kill?”

“Your natural son and the unofficially adopted one.”

Johnny groans harder.

“That’s it. I’m giving Sam and Moon every shameful story I may gather on them.”

Daniel chuckles at that, tipping his head back.

“They were trying to help.”

“No one asked them to. Look, you don’t need to be sorry. It was a fucking disaster.”

“Stop being so hard on yourself. It was not a disaster. Plus, I got Princess and Kobo out of it. It’s been awesome.”

Johnny smirks at him.

“You’re a lost cause.”

“I’m serious, Johnny. No one has ever put that much effort into being my Valentine."  
Johnny can feel his cheeks getting redder by the minute.

“What can I say, I was trying.”

“Yeah, and sometimes trying is everything you need to be doing, Lawrence. There’s no trophies in this.”

Daniel’s lips stop talking to move over Johnny’s. 

When they stop to breathe, he puts a little box out of his pocket.

“So, you get me a ring but won’t give it to me? What happened to “Strike first. Strike hard. No mercy” Lawrence?”

“Was it Miguel?”

“Nope, it was in your pocket. I got it out when I put your jeans in the washing machine this morning.”

“God, can you stop snooping around? We already had the privacy talk.”

“Sorry”.

Daniel says the word but Johnny can clearly see he doesn’t mean it for a second. 

“Asshole.”

He hands the box to Johnny who takes it, immediately handing it back to Daniel. 

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Daniel.”

Daniel opens the box, gasps as it as if he hadn’t already seen it, and smiles with every white tooth he’s got. 

“Thank you, Johnny. It’s such a pretty ring. What does it mean?”

Johnny shrugs at him. “

Whatever you want it to mean.”

Daniel smirks at him, the words he had used on Christmas being thrown right back at him.

“You see, I’m kind of a traditional guy.”

“Are you?”

“Yeah, I don’t do one night stands or that kind of shit. I always date with forever in mind.”

“Hmm, does that mean you want to get married?”

Daniel shrugs feigning indifference, although a smile is already splitting his face.  
“Not necessarily, although I wouldn’t say no if the right person asked.”

Johnny smirks, his heart beating faster by the second. 

“You’re alright, LaRusso.”

Daniel is full on laughing by then and Johnny can’t help but joining in.

“If I’m marrying someone in this life it has to be you. Would you marry me?”

“Yeah, I’ll marry you Lawrence.”

They’re kissing until Daniel breaks away to whisper into Johnny’s ear.

“You know, the kids told me you prepared seven surprises, but I could only think of six until I decided to clean up our closet.”

Johnny groans. 

“I swear it was Amanda’s idea.”

Daniel hums, laughing internally at the idea of his ex wife telling his partner about their sex life. 

“I’ve never been the one to wear the candy underwear so I thought I could put it on to celebrate. I mean, my mouth won’t get irritated if you’re the one to eat it.”

Johnny groans at Daniel, getting harder with each word. He had never thought about Daniel’s in a posing pouch made of candy but now that the image was in his head, he'd never think about anything else ever again. 

“What about the sheets?”

“There’s an old set I was going to throw away anyway, we could use it one last time. No mess to clean.”

Before he knows it, Daniel is being carried bridal style towards their bedroom as the air carry truthful laughs into the starry night.

Happy Valentine's Day indeed.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed my Christmas gift to this fandom. There are some amazing works around here and it's been a pleasure to get into them. May you have a Merry Christmas!


End file.
